But never mind growing up in the 1990s where a parent was needed to help you play a CD-rom on the computer. Unlike the 1990s, children before they're even born have internet footprints almost as large as ours. Parents post ultrasounds, photos, and videos of their children growing up on social networking sites and never question how their children will react to their internet footprint later on in life.
Should parents post images and videos of their children on social networking sites? If they should, where should they draw the line? Do you think children looking back on the photos in the future will mind? Do you think it will affect their future college and job opportunities? What do you think are some psychological issues that could result from immediately having an internet footprint?
I think that people have the right to post images of videos of their children, but should have discretion. As the article references, how did they once feel when their parents broke out the baby album when a date was over? Posting images on the internet is the same thing--only the reach is much further. Students applying to college are often told that once you post something, you can never delete it or get it back, so you need to be cautious of what you post. It is forever there. While it may seem like a good idea at the moment, there could be repercussions in the future unforeseen. A child may want their privacy in the future, and I think if parents feel their child would, they should respect that and refrain from posting. While it is one thing for the parents to have pride in their children and want to show the world how well the children are doing and how equally as wonderful parents they are.
ReplyDeleteSome psychological issues that could emerge from immediately having an internet footprint could be a higher form of egocentricism. Seeing their photo on the computer could make them feel like they're more special compared to the kid whose photos aren't all out for the world to see. Another issue is the development of insecure attachment between child and parents. The child could never learn to trust their parent or respect their right to privacy as they grow older.
It is hard to say. In an ideal world yes, parents should post what they please on the internet and share the beauty that is their child all over social networking sites. Unfortunately, as cute and adorable as their children may be I do not think that everyone they are connected with will appreciate this. I believe parents should draw the line at the number of photos they upload of their kids. Certain events in a child’s life are important and worth documenting, parents should definitely make digital copies to save on their computer and should share certain images with family that may live quite a distance away. Children looking back on what their parents did when they were young will, for the most part; maintain the same attitude that their parents were weird for doing whatever it was that they did. I think that children may potentially like to see what others had to say on their pictures and videos of them at a younger age. Again, because we do not live in an ideal world parents may upload content to the internet that the children might not want to be traced back to. I think that if a college comes across such material that they would understand the content was published by the parents and that the applicant had no bearing on what was seen online. If the student applying to a particular college didn’t want the school to see it bad enough, they would go to the extremities to try to get rid of it. It would also say a lot about a school if they searched for such images and videos of an applicant when evaluating them against thousands of others. I think that, psychologically speaking, the effects may damage the child’s ability to develop who they and their understanding of self. The choice has already been made for them by their parents as to what content is published on the internet, they lose the right to discern what they want others knowing about them and what they don’t want others knowing. Of course, in some children it may not make all that much of a difference. It is truly just a tossup at this point. Children are unable to tell their parents what they want others to see on social networking sites when they are young, so the choice is being made for them regardless. Parents should just bear in mind the amount they post.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that parents should be allowed to post pictures and videos of their children on the internet but when I really think about it, I question why would parents even want to. We all have those certain special family members who get our annual school pictures and get sent major milestones and videos and when you think about it, they are only a select few, not the 600 facebook friends. Although I understand that parents think that their children are amazing and want to share them with the world, I don't necessarily think that the world should see nor do they actually want to see. Special family moments and pictures should be reserved for close family and friends, who will undoubtedly appreciate the effort and who actually want and look forward to that new picture of your child, not that random old high school friend that's still lurking around with the rest of your hundreds of facebook friends.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that baby pictures and cute little embarrassing pictures of children will come back to haunt them or invade their privacy but there is a chance that years later, a child could look back on what their parents have posted and be a little upset that they are now floating around in cyber space without consent.
To avoid negative outcomes, I think that parents shouldn't really go around posting tons of pictures of their kid online, print them out, frame them, send them to grandma and their god mother and call it a day. The people who matter are the people you'll remember to send them to and the people who will in turn appreciate them, not the realm of facebook or twitter.
Posting images and videos of your newly born baby is fine. They do not get a shock or buzz every time someone views their picture. The pictures on the internet are their so the family and friends can see pictures of how the baby is developing. There is a line though that should not be crossed. Naked pictures and pictures that display the baby in a negative way should not be posted on the internet because it can give a negative aspect to the child. I do not think that posting pictures or videos of the child as they grow up will impact their college or job decisions. Then again though if it is an inappropriate picture it will have a chance of harming the child's future. But most colleges only really check to see what the students are doing in their high school career. If they see a teenager with a red cup in their facebook picture, they will assume that it has alcohol in it but if their is a baby with a red cup they are not going to assume that they baby is drinking. Since the generations are being born into the digital age, they will be highly dependent on the internet. You can see it now happening with teens in high school. When there is no power due to a storm, many teens sit there bored because they do not know what life is like without the internet. I believe that parents need to monitor how much time their child is on the internet. They should balance it between school work and going outside and playing.
ReplyDeleteIn most cases, parents typically upload pictures of their newborn in order to show family and close friends their child who they may otherwise not be able to show due to distance or other factors. In this situation, I think that posting images and videos are fine, as they are doing what any other parent would do if they saw their friend or family member offline. However, I agree with Jess in that there is a line that shouldn't be crossed by parents. Overly personal pictures of children shouldn't be posted, as it could reflect negatively in their future. Because society is becoming more and more digitally inclined, it's hard to avoid a child from developing an immediate internet footprint. I think it's now the parent's responsibility to monitor exactly what they put online, and to keep in mind how their children would feel should they come across the images or videos posted later on in life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Regan in that parents should only post things about their children with discretion. Although posting pictures, videos, and quotes of their children online can be entertaining and make it easier to reach more friends and family, they should be careful about what they post and who can see it. Although they can enforce as many security measures as they want, once something is on the internet the parents have no control over who can see it, and therefore their posts are vulnerable to viewing from outside parties that they cannot control. I personally know that I get upset with my mom whenever she posts anything about me on her Facebook page, because I feel that I should be able to control what is shared with the entire worldwide web about me and my life and feel that it violates my right to privacy and my personal property. I think that some psychological issues that can come up from this are mistrust of their parents and feeling as though their privacy has been violated. Another example that I remember seeing is a Tumblr page where two young parents post letters to their daughter, posts about events and day-to-day activities, as well as pictures and videos of her. This page has a huge following, and although I found it extremely sweet, I imagine that if I were their child, I might someday feel uncomfortable and violated about the fact that thousands of people I have never met know intimate details about my childhood. I think that some memories are precious and should be kept within a family and close family friends, and I think that there is a fine line when it comes to what is appropriate to post online about your child.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ellie. If using Facebook is one of the only ways to post pictures and videos of their children in order to stay in touch with extended family then it is acceptable. But it depends on what kind of photo. For example, it would be unacceptable to post a photo of a child taking their first bath. While this is a milestone in the minds of many parents, it is inappropriate. You are unable to have control over who can see it. The parent could also get in trouble for posting "child pornography" when in fact they are just documenting a monumental time in their child's life. Therefore, it is better to be safe that sorry. I think that if a parent is going to post something online, they should filter and make sure that what they are uploading is not going to harm their child now or in the future.
ReplyDeleteI do think parents should post pictures and videos on their children online. I know that I don't get to see my cousin a lot because they live in California, so by my aunt posting pictures on Facebook, I do get to see how he's grown. But I don't think a picture from every single event needs to be posted. Sure, parents can take pictures, but they can just keep them on their computers or print them out and put them in a photo album. When we were kids, social networking sites did not exists, so all of our photos are probably in a photo album and our videos on on VCR tapes. I don't think children will mind too much looking back on pictures because they were young, and the pictures probably bring back memories. I don't think it'll affect their future because I don't know of a college or a job where people would care about pictures of you as a child. Some psychological issues that could result from having an internet footprint are being insecure knowing that many people have seen them as kids, and mistrust.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with some people above, I feel that parents should be allowed to post images and videos of their children on social networking sites as long as it's appropriate. When debating whats appropriate and not appropriate to post on social networking sites, one should think how they would react if their parents posted images like their children when they were younger. Parents also have to take into account that their children will be applying to college in the mere future and college admission advisers do not want to see embarrassing and naked images of students that they will be admitting. Taking in account of what Sav said, you would not want to post images and videos of your child taking a bath even though it may be important to yourself it may not be important to others. I think that in the future if these parent's children see the images that were posted they may be embarrassed because now everybody could see their early life. I feel that some psychological issues that could result from having an internet footprint may be the obsession the child starts to build with the internet itself.
ReplyDeleteSo when I was reading this, I immediately thought of that commercial, where some random guy named Daniel Lee keeps track of his daughters life on the internet, he basically sends her all the things she did growing up so she can remember them. It's better than the old photo-albums that could be lost/damaged.
ReplyDeleteParents can post things on the internet of their children, but with discretion. Simply follow the golden rule, parents treat your kids how you would like to be treated--if it would embarrass you if you were a child seeing this later, don't post it now.
Personally I think a picture here or there is okay on a social-networking site, however i think parents should follow the commercial with Daniel Lee that I mentioned--he's not posting on facebook, he's writing a continuous e-mail to his daughter.
College and Job opportunities could potentially be hindered because of things parents posted!
Certainly some psychological issues could result from a child's internet footprint.
I completely agree with Ellie. While it seems sweet and prudent to document certain milestones, there is a certain amount of privacy that the parents owe to the child, especially because it could be embarrassing in the future. There are certain things that don't need to and shouldn't be shared on social networking sites; it would suffice to keep the information private for safekeeping.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that childhood photos posted by parents could negatively impact future job opportunities or college acceptances. However, I do think that sharing too much private information could cause a child to be insecure later on in life.
*posting Taylor's response on my account because she doesn't have internet*
ReplyDeleteI think that parents definitely have a right to share their children's milestones on social networking sites, but they should set up boundaries. Like Mary said, the Golden Rule is a good boundary. If there's a chance that the child could be embarrassed in the future by what's posted when they're young, the parents shouldn't post it.
I don't think that the pictures would affect colleges or jobs, though. Most people don't usually judge an adult by photos of them when they were very young.
Maybe the child could develop insecurities as a result of the parents' posting embarrassing photos or information.
I do not agree with how parents post pictures of their unborn child and their progression of life once they are born. The internet is not a safe place as we all know, especially being girls. There are plenty of "creepy" people who have fake accounts that lurk around on facebook. To have parents posting album upon album of their children is wrong in my opinion. What happened to just having pictures around the house or sending pictures in a card or even an email to update their friends; why must the entire facebook community see it. This reminds me of the children who are on reality TV shows because they're parents are. They have no choice in whether or not they want to be on TV and they have no choice in this situation either. I definitely think that children looking back on these photos will mind because it is personal to them growing up. I do not think that this will affect their college or job search because they are pictures form when they are little in which they had no control over plus it is not like they are doing anything illegal in these pictures such as under age drinking. I think that it could possibly affect these children psychologically because an entire online community has seen them at their most vulnerable stages.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates that parents should have the right to post what they want on the internet in regards to their kids they just have to make sure they are thinking about the post before they actually do it. For example, my uncle lives in England so pictures on facebook are the only way to see pictures of my baby cousin. All the pictures are appropriate and there are only a couple of them, and I think if everyone took that approach there would not be as big of an issue with posting pictures online. The problem is when parents post pictures that are too personal or embarrassing to the child so parents do have to mindful that in a few years their children's friend could somehow see these pictures. They also need to be posted in moderation because it isn't necessarily appropriate to post every single milestone on the internet so as long as it is done in moderation and they're just posted to update extended family, I see no problem with it
ReplyDeleteI find it ironic that my family was talking about yesterday afternoon and is a common discussion within our household. But like many others, I agree that parents have the same right as we do posting information on the internet. But like anyone else, thought must be put into these actions BEFORE you hit the post button. One must think of possible outcomes of exploiting information and how it can lead to trouble. On the other side, as someone who is not a fan of technology, I can see how a child may not want their whole life in the digital world for all to see. The line between personal information and public information is slowly diminishing. My family has come to the conclusion that technology is very likely to lead to ADD as well as ADHD. Also with technology taking over, anti-social behavior is becoming common and people forget how to interact with others the "old-school" way, face-to-face.
ReplyDeleteI agree that parents have the right to post whatever they want on the internet regarding their children. I sometimes think it could be nice say, if your parents lived in another state and your mom had a facebook and she wanted to see pictures of her granddaughter. The girls mother could post the pictures on facebook so that her whole family and friends could see. I do think its crossing the line if the parents post pictures that could possibly embarrass the child in the future or provide means for other children to tease them. I'm sure parents can tell if what they are posting could embarrass their children, and if they think it could, they shouldn't post it. I don't think that any pictures of that kind could affect the child getting a job in the future because, in the off chance that their employers even find them, the person cannot be judged on the pictures that were taken of them by their families when they were young.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a mothers right to "show off" her children online. You are proud of your kids and posting pictures online is a way to help share them with others. If you are posting the pictures on facebook, only friends you allow to view the will be able to, so this is a good way to monitor who can see the images. I think when a child gets older they will be fine with knowing their pictures were posted because almost all kids have pictures of them online now-a-days, it is not an uncommon thing. But i do feel that over exposing pictures should not be posted, those can be embarrassing when looking back on them in the future. I also do not think that pictures posted online of a child growing up will affect much of their life in the future. Im sure a mother would not post a picture on a social network that would negatively affect her child.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is okay for parents to post pictures of their children on social networking sites. In the end, parents are the ones who are controlling their child's life and deciding what they can and cannot do. In many cases, parents are controlling and checking up on their own child's social networking site, so that makes them the authority in a situation like that. In most cases, I hope that the parents have the child's interest in mind, but I am sure that is not the case many times. I think a good parent should know what will affect their child's future, since they are the ones in charge of raising them. Parents need to draw the line at what is inappropriate. They have to realize would be embarrassing to their child. They also can't post anything that their kid would not post. All the pictures should display their kids in a positive light. I personally wouldn't mind looking back at pictures posted on a social networking sight because I don't think that I do anything bad or anything that could harm me. Although I may think things are awkward, I don't think that they would portray me in a negative light. Psychologically, having an internet footprint can cause a person to always watch their back and not trust other people, in fear that it may turn up unfavorably in the future. This can be positive but it can also be negative, stopping a person from having trusting relationships.
ReplyDeleteI think that often parents do go overboard with the idea of getting their child out there. Although it seems to them like harmless bragging, they do not realize the effect it can have on their child. Imagine your your parents posted a picture of you in the bathtub as a baby. Although it seemed fine then, it is 16 years later and your boyfriend can still see that picture online. People don't realize that once a picture is out there, it is out there forever, whether it is deleted or not. If a child can grow up to be embarrassed about a picture they can be emotionally scarred by it. Parents may find it cute posting pictures and videos of their children but it can affect their lives when they are older. If a child grows up and wants to go to college but as a child they had a phase where they liked to curse and a parent took a video and put it up on the internet, a college can find that and it may affect their acceptance decision.
ReplyDelete