“Sharenting”; A digital footprint before footsteps.

“the habitual use of social media to share news, images etc of one’s children’.- Collins Dictionary, 2016”

We live in a digital age and the idea that most of what we do should be documented is nothing new to the younger generation. But how much say do the youngest generation (Generation Alpha; 5 years or less) have a say in their digital footprint? Sharenting is a term appearing on news sites and research journals and as Generation Alpha mature, some researchers and mental health practitioners are interested in understanding how the digital footprint young children have impacts on their mental health.

The Guardian highlights that some parents feel the benefits of sharing pictures of their children outweigh the potential negative consequences. These benefits include;

• Using social media to connect with friends and family allows parents to keep connected with a wider social circle and access support from family if needed.
• Social media can be used to bring parents who experience similar challenges together, some parents have begun blogs/websites with their child’s story and this has allowed them to connect with, and get support from, other parents in similar situations.
• Some blogs have been established to challenge the ‘perfect parent’ stereotype that can be seen on social media. These blogs aim to set a more realistic perspective on all aspects of parenting and relieve the pressure some parents may feel when trying to live up to the perfect standard.

With these things in mind & reflecting on the ever digital world we live in research would appear to overwhelmingly suggest that parents should show caution when deciding what to share online. The BBC recently published an article explaining that ‘Sharenting’ could increase the chances of online and identity fraud for young children as information shared often includes personal information such as important dates, places and people. They again suggested that sharing images or information about younger children could lead to negative consequences at a later age.

While both sides make valid arguments, for me, it feels that the bigger issue here is around the child’s right to privacy and the long term consequences of lack of consent.

 

The British Association for Social Workers recently published an article titled; Have ‘Generation Tagged’ Lost Their Privacy?. The Summary from the report includes;

• The idea that young children should have a privacy right independent from their parents expectations of privacy. The report recommends that there should be a clearer understanding of the child’s interests, including immediate and long term harm weighed alongside the benefits of sharing.
• Young children are often subjected to negative comments and images through their images being shared, more work needs to be done to ensure that the child has the same rights online as offline.
• The report highlights that it is in no ones interest to have media where children do not appear for fear of the risk of potential harm. However, programmes and sharing should be done by regulated broadcasters who in turn should ensure the well being of children involved. Involving children who have appeared on broadcasts and who are now at an age to reflect on the impact of their experience will inform future decisions.
• The report suggests that social media services such as Facebook, twitter etc should have further privacy settings including warnings when images of young children are being posted reminding the sharer of the need for consent and privacy. Alongside this there should be a limitation on the extent to which information and images relating to a young child can be copied (i.e saved to photos, screenshot, forwarded) and shown in a different context to the original.
• The report recommends further research to consider how older children can be assisted to identify and control images and information which has been posted about them in the past.
• Education for parents and children about the impact of “sharenting” and the long term impact for both their relationships and the mental health of the child.

The report goes some way into understanding and guiding future research into the digital footprint created for young children, however, it may be some time before we fully understand the impact. My next post will look at guidelines for parents from professionals on sharing images of children online.

Are you a parent? Grandparent? Mental health professional? I would be really interested in hearing other’s thoughts on the concept of “Sharenting.” Perhaps you refrain from sharenting, or have had a discussion with you child about images shared and how they feel about it? Please leave your comments below or contact me here with your thoughts!