Think twice before sharing photos of your kids online, experts say

It was shortly after first hearing the term online that psychologist Susan Albers started being asked about “sharenting” in her counseling sessions this year. Seemingly harmless on the surface, the social media trend has experts concerned. So Albers’ patients wanted answers.

“Teenagers, in particular, bring it up because their parents are sharing information they’re uncomfortable with,” she told Cleveland Clinic. Sharenting is when a parent shares photos and other information about their child on social media. It’s a prevalent practice that has Albers worried for many millennials.Know the risks

According to UNICEF, the practice can cause “tangible harm,” including permanent damage to a person’s reputation or drawing the attention of sexual predators.

“We need to understand the long-term emotional impact sharenting may have on children — impacts that we cannot see or fathom yet because they haven’t been researched,” Albers added.

While more research is needed, some scientists have taken the first steps toward better understanding it. A 2016 study of 168 Polish parents concluded that sharenting was already a “common practice” back in 2016. A 2017 study discovered that sharenting can lead to child identity theft and the distribution of images on child abuse websites.

According to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner senior investigator Toby Dagg in a 2015 report, up to half of photos shared on child exploitation sites could be sourced back to pictures first posted on social media. By 2023, researchers with Ankara University’s Department of Child Development in Turkey had investigated the growing trend as “sharenting syndrome.”

“The behaviors of sharing and disclosing intimate information about children by their parents on social media platforms is rapidly growing and has become a topic of research for scholars worldwide,” the scientists reported. “Children who become well known on social media may be vulnerable to neglect and abuse due to their developmental characteristics. Child neglect and abuse are not spontaneous situations but are instead caused by people. Similarly, in sharenting syndrome, the child is at risk due to the sharing of the parents, and in some cases may be exposed to neglect and abuse.”

According to Fairleigh Dickinson University associate professor of communication Kara Alaimo, bullying is another major concern.

“As a professor who studies social media use, I previously interviewed one teenager who told me she worried that schoolmates would use pictures of her posted by her parents — both comedians with large followings on Instagram — to make fun of her,” Alaimo wrote to CNN. “Most bullying these days happens on phones, she said. Young people will sometimes add someone into a group chat and then post an embarrassing photo to humiliate the person.”

The “Over the Influence: Why Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — And How We Can Take It Back” author added that children can also pick up on unhealthy habits when their parents sharent. By watching their parents participate in the trend as they grow up, children may feel responsible for constantly attracting attention on social media by posting photos and other content. Research has shown that it’s a fast track to anxiety issues later in life.Can sharenting be done safely?

Attracting child predators, unknowingly contributing to child exploitation websites, increasing a child’s risk of being bullied, enforcing an anxiety-prone lifestyle — the risks are plenty, even with most research still in the nascent stages. But there are ways for parents to show their pride without putting their children in harm’s way.

“First, parents should consider posting photos on private accounts,” Alaimo said. “They have to approve requests for someone to be a friend or follow them — and they should only do so if they know the person offline.

“Of course, sharing in private accounts isn’t foolproof,” she added. “The content could be hacked or accessed by the staff of a social network — or one of their friends could turn out not to be as trustworthy as expected. But doing so can reduce the likelihood of having people with bad intentions access children’s information. People can impersonate others online, so when parents receive a friend or follow request, it’s a good idea to follow up with the person offline to confirm that they actually created the account.”

Photos that could potentially embarrass children should always be avoided. Lastly, avoid sharing detailed information that an identity thief might find handy.

“For example, where a child was born is a common security question that could be used to hack into online accounts in the future,” she said. “Not sharing the names of their school and other places they regularly frequent can make it harder for someone to find children offline.”

According to UNICEF, however, it’s important to always remember that there is no fool-proof plan for sharenting.

“We get wrapped up in our children being part of our identities, but ultimately our kids are their own individuals with feelings,” University of Florida’s Center on Children and Families director Stacey Steinberg told the fund. “Sharing about ourselves is one thing, but it’s something else when we share about others in our homes.”