Parental Tips

By Carly Yoost, Founder Child Rescue Coalition

Social media has evolved beyond anyone’s wildest dreams over the last two decades. In as little as a single generation, parents went from film cameras and limited internet use, to ever present camera phones and dozens of social media platforms begging for your latest update. When social media hit the scene, no one could have predicted the implications on culture that we’re seeing today. We’re living in a reality where your digital footprint can have serious ramifications on your future, and in some cases, your safety. 

As parents, we naturally want to share our children’s moments with friends and family on social media. But many times, those happy moments capture other people’s children, too. In dance studios, karate classes, soccer leagues and schools around the world,  parents snap pictures of their kids to post online simply as a habit. While many children’s activity providers, schools and camps now provide waivers to give the parents more control over their child’s image, there are still many instances where group photos are posted online without asking for permission from those children’s parents. 

Previously, Child Rescue Coalition has asked you to pause before posting –  today, I want to encourage you to ask permission before posting photos and videos that show other people’s children on social media.

In 2022, CBS reported the inherent risks of sharing content on social media including, “unintentionally putting children at risk of hacking, facial recognition tracking, pedophilia and other online threats to privacy and security caused by oversharing.”  

I’m a parent and I understand the allure of sharing milestones and moments online. Birthday parties, school plays, losing that first tooth, scoring the winning soccer goal – they are all social media worthy moments you want to share with friends and family and revel in the memories when they pop back up in your feed later. But we, as parents, need to do a better job of thinking about what others may or may not want for their own children when it comes to posting on social media. 

Six years ago we launched a campaign called Pause Before you Post, to remind parents to consider their child’s feelings about their images being on the internet. Now we’re taking it one step further and asking you to receive Permission to Post. In addition to considering your own children’s feelings about their online presence, get into the habit of asking other kids and their parents if you have permission to photograph them in group settings – before you post group photos online. 

As a parent you have the right to decide if your kids’ pictures should live on the internet, and we need to normalize asking for consent before posting pictures of other people’s children. 

In the end, social media is here to stay, so rather than avoid it, parents must use it responsibly and respect the privacy and beliefs of other people – even if you don’t share them. The internet is not an inherently bad place, but like anything else in life, it comes with risk. To create online spaces where everyone feels safe, we should treat social media like real life – a place where we don’t assume we have access or permission to invade anyone’s privacy. Asking for permission before you post a photo or video that contains other people is a simple place to start. 

The digital world is rapidly changing, and we’re navigating it side-by-side. Together, we can encourage each other to be mindful of what we post online and create a safer digital environment for our children. Will you commit to asking permission to post?