photo consent form - does anyone else say 'no'?

[stufftodo]

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The question of pictures online is a difficult one, and tbh the main concern with it at the school I work at is not paedophilia, but cyber bullying - there was a case where a child at the neighbouring secondary school (one of our ex-pupils) found a picture of herself, 'doctored' by another child who had been bullying her, put on a public site.
That was actually not a photo from school, but it did lead us to make parents who buy the CD of the Year 6 adventure holiday sign a form saying that the copyright remains with the school & they agree not to alter the photos & not to upload them to any public site.

Has anybody any actual proof that people take children's images from school web sites and manipulate the images for salacious purposes? Or is this one an urban myth?

And - at a risk of being stoned - if it DOES happen, then exactly how does it damage the children in the image? It's disgusting - but does no harm to the child concerned, surely? Much worse that they can't be in a picture with their friends.

someone could take a close-up photo of your child when you're out at the playground using a telephoto lens. Maybe paper bags are the answer?

I work in the media and we have no problem with schools where certain children can?t be featured ? the teacher just puts other children forward for a photo, tho of course it means that the children whose parents said ?no? are never in the paper which I think is a little bit sad, for them I mean.

However with one school I contacted wrt reception class photos, the secretary said there were some children whose parents didn?t want them to be photographed so what would we do? I said, well, we can leave them out of the picture. Oh, she said, that?s not fair on them is it?well no. So in the end we agreed not to do it at all. The school missed out imho. And I won?t be in a rush to contact them again tbh.

I am always happy for my kids? schools to be in the paper ? it?s good publicity and in this day and age we need all the pupils we can get (don?t most schools?)

Out of interest, why do people say no to photos in the paper? Is it for reasons to do with fears of perverts? (Sorry if so but I find that ridiculous) Obviously if it?s a child protection issue needing to keep child?s whereabouts secret then of course I completely understand and sympathise.

oh OK, well you are entitled to your point of view of course itati and others, but can I say that it?s a good thing everyone doesn?t agree with you. My view is that it is very sad that you hold that view.

You have no idea of the circumstances around why we don't allow our children to be photographed and then publically shown so no need for you to feel sad. The consequences for us are too big a risk. It is nothing to do with perverts.

sorry itati I meant theodore and others I think.

Thank you.

I don't feel in any way sad that my kids have never appeared in any of the local freebies. I throw them straight into the recycling bin anyway. I am not aware that they feel sad either. They are very happy to have their pictures up on the walls at school. Should there be some occasion when the school would like to have them included in some event with lots of publicity (centennials etc) then I would expect the school to have the courtesy to ask me about that individual event, and if I thought it was OK I would probably say yes. It is not as if this is likely to be a frequent occurrence though is it? I value my privacy and my children's privacy and I like to make decisions on a case by case basis. I think this is a fairly normal approach, and schools should not have blanket yes/no policies, or pressure parents into doing things they don't want to do.

All the infants schools in the area have class photos taken and they appear in a special supplement of a local newspaper about starting school. It is over 20 pages long so lots and lots of schools to this !

The children who arent allowed to have their photos taken will have to be excluded from this and will miss the excitement of the first class photo.

One of my Mindees recently found her first picture from teh newspaper and took it into school to show everyone as they are now year 6. Everyone loved seeing it again.

The Teacher may only stressed because she will have to remember to exclude DC from photos.

I think the reception class photos in the paper are lovely-such a shame not to be in it.

FFS - no, Theodore that is not 'how the world is' - but I feel sorry for your children if they grow up thinking you're right. Hopefully, they'll have more sense.

I don't know any schools that do this, but I guess if it is a local tradition that's another matter.

Itati - I don't think you should have to justify your reasons, but I don't think it's wrong for a member of staff to speak to a parent to ask, on the basis that some parents may say no because they haven't really considered why they're saying no iykwim.

God, that sounds so woolly.

Has anybody any actual proof that people take children's images from school web sites and manipulate the images for salacious purposes? Or is this one an urban myth?

And - at a risk of being stoned - if it DOES happen, then exactly how does it damage the children in the image? It's disgusting - but does no harm to the child concerned, surely? Much worse that they can't be in a picture with their friends.

I think its absolutely hysterical unless due to very unusual circumstances already mentioned.

My son goes to the local stay and play with his childminder. I've been once. I've had to fill in a form asking if I give my consent to photos being taken and I've refused too. I've refused because I rarely take him to stay and play because he goes with his childminder and I cannot see why on earth the stay and play people would have any business taking photos of the children.

I suspect I would give permission for a school because I am likely to have an ongoing relationship with the school and will be more likely to understand the aim of taking the photograph in the first place.

Years and years ago I was on the student union in our sixth form colleage and we used to go through all of the passport photos provided by students and pick out the good-looking ones. We didn't think there was any harm in it but obviously looking back it wasn't a particularly nice thing for us to do. I'd hate to think of photos of my son being out there, commented on by strangers.

Maybe I am strange. I think some beliefs or opinions aren't based on logic or common sense, just an intituive or gut feeling. For me, this is one of them

As I said I do have experience of photos being manipulated - but not for porn.
A girl's photo was photoshopped by one of her classmares to give her massive teeth & put online with nasty comments - which obviously did do her harm. I would think there is a much greater risk of this than of being taken for porn sites.

I refuse to alter my behaviour because of a few sick people-having school photos in the paper is a perfectly reasonable thing to do (unless you are escaping an abusive partner etc)and I don't want to live in a society where I am distrustful of allowing my DC to be photographed handing a bouquet to a VIP because I think someone might use it. The case of putting big teeth etc on a photo is bullying and should be dealt with. It is giving into bullies if you let them alter your behaviour.

I absloutely agree, AbbyA!

I just refuse to bring up my DCs in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. It seemed really weird to me last week when a photographer came into the school hall to take a photo of the children making a music CD, just as she was about to start the Head had to hurriedly send 10 children out with a TA while the other 200 carried on. It seemed madness to me!

unknownrebelbang I see what you are saying but I don't really want to discuss my private family issues with the teacher beyond what they already know. I am sure when I declined permission they worked it out for themselves anyway. And for those thinking it will make my children suspicious, they are oblivious.

I am careful about photos, but it's nothing to do with thinking there are peados around the corner. I'd just rather not. I wouldn't want my picture in the local rag either. If there was some special occasion then fair enough I'd think about it. Actually if there are children who cannot have their pictures taken for safety reasons, I think it better that there are other kids who also don't have their pictures taken so that the ones who need to be excluded don't feel so bad about it (better 20 kids trooping out than two). As my school goes for the individual consent approach it's not really an issue - as far as I am aware my kids have never had an occasion to be excluded (certainly dd would have told me a bout it!)

Theodore - you are being ridiculous.