Are kids victims on social media?
What I love most about this column is hearing from readers. It’s great when you agree with me but it’s even better when you challenge my train of thought.
I had no idea that the topic of a picture scandal involving nude celebs would turn into a three parter.
In the first column I briefly touched upon the hacking controversy. Last week it was your turn to sound off where you, like I, blamed the “victim” for having such imagery and making it accessible in any sort of online platform.
From there we dive into this week’s photos-on-the-Internet discussion, though this time about kids.
Parents — especially to newborns — have no problem posting hundreds of photos from birth and much of the kid’s childhood, seemingly exploiting their child’s life for the enjoyment of friends and total strangers on the Internet.
When young, presumably the kids have no idea what Facebook and social media is and think mom and dad are just taking photoshoot-like pics because their parents love them. Little do the kids know it is for something less professional and incredibly intrusive.
When Junior does something embarrassing or foolish, the play by play is documented. When little Sally gets her first princess dress, that is displayed for everyone. Parents seem to lose all regard for their kid’s privacy.
It would be interesting to hear from a privacy lawyer if there have been any cases of a teenager coming forward and saying, “Yeah, I love my mom but she totally invaded my privacy and I want to sue her. Those humiliating childhood pics have caused emotional distress and I want compensation.” (If it hasn’t happened, I think it is only a matter of time.)
The funny thing is when the kids become teenagers I think parents hope the days of putting everything online stop because, well, you know how teens are. But if it was good enough for mom and dad to do it for years when I was a youngster, how is it wrong now?
