Teacher sharing images on SM

[glitterelf]

Morning I've stumbled across images of children including my own on Twitter from a teachers personal Twitter account and I feel a little uneasy about this. Does anyone know the rules and regs around this ? The school itself does have its own account so I'm not sure why it wasn't posted through that account. I know that there are several children who most definitely should not have their pictures posted ever and I cannot see anything in the schools policies about SM. TIA

@Ginger1982

You need to report this to the school. Can I ask which country of the UK you're in?

We're England, the Midlands.

Surely parents should opt I rather than out?

If it looks as though they will sweep it under the rug as you say, helpfully inform them that you will check it with the ICO just to make sure. Then do it.

You dont share images of children on personal social media accounts, its definitely not okay and there is no excuse.

You may well have consented to the use of your child's photo on the schools own website or social media page, not necessarily yearly. Anything outside of that needs specific permission. But that would normally be an outside agency not a personal account of any kind no matter who it is.

Is it a picture of their full face or facing away. You may need to check what you signed when your child joined as some schools I know say it can be used by the teacher as well

It is absolutely out of line. I used to work as a photographer and whenever this involved schools I had very clear instructions as to which children must not be snapped and rules that governed the use of these photos; of ownership and rules about social media.

This teacher is out of order. Report it. There will be children in school who live with a parent who has suffered domestic abuse or custody battle are ongoing, and it is very important that their whereabouts is not exposed for their own safety.

How strange. As someone that works in this sector I can confirm that we absolutely are not allowed to have photos of the kids on our own devices.

And I don’t mean this harshly towards you and your kid, but why on earth would she even want this in her personal account?! I love what I do but I certainly don’t want my personal accounts to be affiliated with my work place!

I’d send an email to the head and the governors saying you feel it’s inappropriate.

I think that’s a sackable offence - it certainly would be at my school.

Report to school, but you can also google the LADO for your local authority and report it to them too.

I would absolutely report this. But I am shocked and in disbelief that a teacher would actually do this!? OP, what does the photo (or photos) actually show? If it's the back of a child's head then I wouldn't bother reporting it, but if she's taken photos where children can easily be identified then I'd report it now.

For a start she shouldn't even have her phone in the classroom with the children. Even if you had consented to your child being on social media it would be for their school social media accounts not private personal ones. In my experience working with children, photos are taken on either tablets or cameras that belong to the school and should not be used for personal things like personal social media accounts.

How do you know she used her phone?

@babyyy1926

I always have my phone on me in the classroom.

Even if you had consented to your child being on social media it would be for their school social media accounts not private personal ones.

There isn’t really such a thing as a “private” Twitter account.

I always have my phone on me in the classroom.

The teachers in our primary school did as well. They were always taking photos of the kids on them.

Full faces of lots of children mine fully identifiable as she is front row as are lots of children. Whether it's on her personal device or not I have no idea, what I do know is it doesn't sit right with me as she is a senior member of staff who would or should have access to the schools own account and clearly it's not a mistake as she has tagged the school.

Most schools ask parents to sign a similar form to this and many teachers do share pictures of their class and their work on social media. They often have accounts for personal things and a separate account for school related posts.

Did you not sign a permissions form when your kid started school? Mines in reception & gave permission for my kid to be on social media, the website etc. It doesn’t bother me at all. It explicitly stated that if my preferences changed, I needed to let the school know. They won’t keep asking.

@Bobholll

Did you not sign a permissions form when your kid started school? Mines in reception & gave permission for my kid to be on social media, the website etc. It doesn’t bother me at all. It explicitly stated that if my preferences changed, I needed to let the school know. They won’t keep asking.

Yes I did sign permission forms when my DD started however these images as I've explained are not on the school website nor are they on the school Twitter account hence why I am questioning it.

I wonder whether she has forgotten to switch between accounts on Twitter and thought she was posting to the school account?

@partystress

I wonder whether she has forgotten to switch between accounts on Twitter and thought she was posting to the school account?

That would be plausible if she hadn't tagged the school in the post.

It sounds exactly the same as our school, and most of the schools near here. Main school Twitter account for all-school information or announcements. Then teachers have individual accounts to post about their class or certain events or subjects.
Despite PP saying this isn't allowed, it actually is allowed in lots of social media policies because it isn't a personal account. It's a professional teacher account for the school and the school decides which content to post on which account. Then usually the accounts tweet or retweet each other.
We don't give permission annually. Permission is given when you join the school and then sometimes requested for special events. If you decide to change your permissions, then it's on you to contact the school in writing presumably to let them know.

@ShinyHappyPoster

It sounds exactly the same as our school, and most of the schools near here. Main school Twitter account for all-school information or announcements. Then teachers have individual accounts to post about their class or certain events or subjects. Despite PP saying this isn't allowed, it actually is allowed in lots of social media policies because it isn't a personal account. It's a professional teacher account for the school and the school decides which content to post on which account. Then usually the accounts tweet or retweet each other. We don't give permission annually. Permission is given when you join the school and then sometimes requested for special events. If you decide to change your permissions, then it's on you to contact the school in writing presumably to let them know.

OP won't know until she speaks to someone though. It could be like at your school, and everything is above board, approved and sanctioned and presumably parents are aware of this happening. Or it might not be and a mistake/oversight. Regardless of the circumstances, if any of the children in the photos are not supposed to be in them (with consent denied by parents) it still is a serious( potentially safeguarding ) issue.

@ShinyHappyPoster

It sounds exactly the same as our school, and most of the schools near here. Main school Twitter account for all-school information or announcements. Then teachers have individual accounts to post about their class or certain events or subjects. Despite PP saying this isn't allowed, it actually is allowed in lots of social media policies because it isn't a personal account. It's a professional teacher account for the school and the school decides which content to post on which account. Then usually the accounts tweet or retweet each other. We don't give permission annually. Permission is given when you join the school and then sometimes requested for special events. If you decide to change your permissions, then it's on you to contact the school in writing presumably to let them know.

I am most definitely talking about a personal account any teacher accounts I've seen would use the teachers name for example Mrs Smith not a first name followed by numbers with no indication that it is in fact a teacher. Any posts I've ever seen promoting anything to do with the school has always been on the school account.

@AccidentallyOnPurpose I said earlier that OP should raise it as an issue since she doesn't feel she has given permission and she is confused over whether this is a personal or a professional account. I was just responding to the later posts saying schools never do this. They do - quite often.

[quote ShinyHappyPoster]@AccidentallyOnPurpose I said earlier that OP should raise it as an issue since she doesn't feel she has given permission and she is confused over whether this is a personal or a professional account. I was just responding to the later posts saying schools never do this. They do - quite often.[/quote]
I've just had a quick look at other local schools Twitter accounts and can see some teachers also have professional account clearly labelled that they are in fact a teacher of such school and their position which is very different from the type of account I'm talking about other than the tag to school account there is absolutely nothing to suggest that she is a teacher or that it's a professional account literally her first name and numbers.

Not right at all. The school should have policies in place and if they don't handle your complaint properly, it needs to go higher. I can't believe a teacher would do that.