Filming kids at open evening

[Smeegall]

Just wondered if this was something that happened in other schools. I am a music teacher and had performances happening. We have some particularly talented people performing and I get they are incredible - and it's quite amazing. We had parents taking their phones out and filming and repeatedly I had to tell them to put their phones away and to not film the children. At one point, my HoD decided to print off no filming posters and put them up everywhere but then we still had to tell people off.

I am a confident and experienced teacher and have no trouble telling people politely that they need to put their phones away and not film. But I just wondered why this was necessary - and what it's coming to. I've always done performances and parents have never taken their phones out to film.

I can understand parents wanting to film their own children when they are being a star on stage. They are proud of their children, and want to show them off to family members who couldn't be there.

Alternatively, if they are as good as you say, the parents are probably hoping they can show the performance online and someone will make them a world super star and earn lots of money, rightly or wrongly.

No this isnt filming their own kids - this is parents coming round filming random kids. This is all the new year 6 parents coming up - the majority dont know the children performing and the performers felt really really uncomfortable.

If it's not their own kids, that is very bizarre.

The only thing I can think of, is that these parents were so impressed, they wanted to show their families why your school is the school for their kids. "Look what you will become here!".

However, yes it's naughty of them to film other people's kids, when they have been told not to. That's what the absent minded, jolly, fair weather, selfish, I don't care parents are like nowadays.

It's sadly life in 2025. People are so use to freely snapping away, filming everything and documenting their whole life, they forget about boundaries.

I teach Reception. We always have 'no mobile phones' signs up whenever we do parental engagement sessions in the classroom, yet I'm forever having to point out the signs and remind people to put their phones away. Whether they're simply scrolling through Facebook (while they're meant to be spending time with their child!), or trying to take photos of their child, people don't seem to understand that a classroom full of children is not an appropriate place to have their phones out.

I wonder how those same parents would feel if I got my own personal mobile phone out around their child and started scrolling or snapping away? Maybe then they'd get how inappropriate it is.

At our school, the head teacher always introduces any play/performance/concert and says parents are allowed to film for their own personal use but can’t show any footage on social media. It’s probably the best they can do, as it’s hard to physically stop parents doing it.

Yes I noticed this for the first time this year. Parents taking photos of their kids taking part in our dept’s activities (writing activities, not even performance!). Other ppl’s kids in the background, me in the foreground, without asking permission.