By Melissa Meehan
A generation now exists that has never lived in a world without social media.
And by the time they start school many kids already have a digital footprint.
Social media is a great tool to share photos and updates with friends and family around the globe – but by doing so are we putting our children at risk?
Cybersafety expert Susan McLean says less is best when sharing photos and traditional methods are often the safest.
“There is no 100 per cent way of sharing photos of children on social media,” she said.
“The issue is that even if you have a facebook page with all of the security settings in place there is no guarantee that your “friends” won’t take and share that photos.”
She says relying on the good nature of “friends”, which could include people you went to school with or a former neighbour, not to use the photos is dangerous.
And suggests checking security settigns and making sure you only share information and photos of your children with a small number of trusted individuals.
“People are still posting naked photos of children on social media – I follow plenty of people who are forever posting photos of their kids in the bath,” she said.
“These are just the type of photos that predators take.”
The safest way of sharing these photos is by emailing them directly to grandparents and other interested parties – not sharing them on public profiles where anyone can get access to them.
If you are going to continue to post online, make sure location services are turned off – this will stop the wrong people being able to find the exact location that the photo was taken.
“You must understand that once you have posted or shared a photo of your kids – you have lost control of it,” Ms McLean said.
“Hashtags are really dangerous too – people can search for terms like wedding cake but the predators of the world know the hashtags to search.
“They will trade them and share them.”
Ms McLean said oversharing parents also caused issues for their kids in later life.
“I’ve seen photos of kids at potty parties – and you have to what planet are these parents on?,” she said.
“Many children arrive at school with a digital footprint because of their oversharing parents – and some of what’s shared can haunt them later.
“Parents need to be mindful of this.”
TIPS TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD ONLINE
– Don’t post naked photos
– Less is more
– Be careful of hashtags
– Check security settings
– Check that you are sharing with trusted people only
– Share photos directly with those you trust via email or sms
– Don’t post photos of other kids
Sexts, texts and selfies – Susan McLean
Widely regarded as Australia’s first cyber cop, cyber-safety expert Susan McLean helps you understand and connect with your child’s online world, and guide them safely through it in this revised and updated edition of her best-selling book.
She shows you how to establish good online habits, set time restrictions and boundaries, identify good apps and bad apps, deal with cyber bullying, work out who to ‘friend’ and ‘unfriend’, and manage your child’s digital reputation.
Filled with case studies about what children get up to online and the very latest research, Susan’s advice is firm but fair.
With her clear guidelines, parents can allow their children to embrace and enjoy technology, without the stress or worry.
