BATON ROUGE — It’s that time of year again when kids are headed back to school and social media timelines are filled with annual ‘back to school’ pictures. While they are very cute and at times a potential happy-tear jerker, there are also concerns.
Kati LeBreton, a digital habits educator, is cautioning parents against posting too much information in their ‘back to school’ social media pictures this year. While she acknowledges that sharing on social media isn’t inherently negative, she emphasizes that it can expose children to significant risks.
“We get into trouble when we forget that posting on our Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok pages doesn’t just reach the 200 people we communicate with daily. It goes out to the world. Also, private profiles are not private,” LeBreton said.
While sharing these types of photos can lead to sweet reactions from innocent ‘internet aunties,’ it’s important to take into account what you’re sharing with the world. LeBreton explains that the additional information shared with these photos can provide predators with intimate details about children, making it easier for them to gain familiarity.
“Whoever looks at this picture can now see what your child looks like, their approximate height, hair color, eye color, and what their school uniform looks like. They might even notice details like the character on your child’s backpack. If your child is holding a chalkboard that says, ‘My name is Megan. I’m in third grade. I go to Champ Elementary School,’ it gives away even more information,” she continued.
“A stranger would not know all of those things about them.”
LeBreton detailed a scenario where a predator approaches a child, having seen the pictures online. She said he/she is armed with the knowledge of what school the child attends, their favorite character, their teacher’s name, what they want to be when they grow up, and the general vicinity of where the child lives. All of those things are easy conversation starters to gain trust with your child.
“I love Spider Man too, and I have a puppy that’s the same name as your puppy, and I also want to be a dentist. My favorite color is also pink, and your teacher, Miss Abby, told me to come talk to you. In your child’s brain, they are not going to think that person is a stranger,” she explained. “A stranger would not know all of those things about them.”
In a conversation with a local district attorney, LeBreton learned a shocking fact about where predators obtain information.
“I asked him, when you arrest these people who have images and videos of children, where are they getting these images and videos from,” she shared. “His immediate answer was, ‘parents Facebook pages’.”
She stresses that social media timelines should not be treated like private journals but rather as billboards visible to everyone at any time. “It really grinds my gears when I see those pictures come around every August,” LeBreton added. “Back to school pictures, specifically, show that parents are sacrificing safety for likes.”
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported an increase in online enticement cases, which often involve predators using social media to gather information about children. In 2020, there were over 37,000 reports of online enticement, a significant rise from previous years.
“Parents are not making mistakes when they do that, and they’re not in the wrong for wanting to participate in society in this way because they are very proud of their kids,” she adds. “They love their kids.”
To share these moments safely, LeBreton offers several tips:
- Avoid taking pictures in front of your door with your home address.
- Don’t photograph children in their school uniforms, especially if they have logos.
- Skip the chalkboard with personal details.
“There is no reason for the internet to know the name of your child’s teacher, what grade they are in, or any other personal information,” LeBreton advises.
Other options involve creating shared albums on phones for specific family members. This method allows for sharing memories and creating digital albums without the associated risks. Specific hashtags such as #NationalDaughtersDay or #NationalSonsDay can also be easy targets for predators.
LeBreton says through her business, The RedHead Method, she offers group and individual coaching as well as keynote speaking engagements in this ever-evolving digital age.She says she’s learned from her own mistakes of things she’s posted that have caught up with her.
“I had parents that paid attention to what I was doing and would take my phone away when they would see me messing up, and I even screwed up because I had no idea the implications and the reach and the habits that I was creating growing up in the digital age,” she said.
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