‘Thinking a little longer about what we do and don’t share from our offspring can’t hurt’
Patricia van Liemt is a radio presenter, writer and mother of Maria (13) and Phaedra (10). Every Friday she writes striking, honest, funny and above all recognizable columns about her life and motherhood.
The fact that my American girlfriend’s children were not allowed to have their school photo taken sent a shock wave through the class app. There could be gossip, because she was not in it because of the risk of privacy violation. She just sent messages.
Decide for yourself
My first reaction, like all other parents, was very primary: why the hell not? They’re just kids. It’s just a school photo. How innocent do you want it? But now, eight years later, there will be more understanding of her point of view. At the time I had my doubts too. Her husband worked for Google, which made me think, “What do they know that I don’t already know?” She never said anything about that, but she gave the reason that she felt that her children should be able to decide for themselves where they were digitally recorded.
Read also: ‘I deliberately do not portray my child as recognizable on social media’
Vlog babies
Actually a very modern thought of my girlfriend, which we as parents should perhaps think about more often. You have countless families thriving on YouTube, capturing everything from birth pool to high school. And often very successfully! The Bellingas are a good example, because this family moved from a simple rented house to a villa with a tennis court and an indoor swimming pool. But the first so-called vlog babies are now eighteen years old and in America one vlog child after another breaks the bond with its parents. They feel used by them.
“You have countless families thriving on YouTube, capturing everything from birth pool to high school”
Think a little longer
Of course, a school photo has nothing to do with publicly sharing your child’s every fart online, but think a little longer (and I also say this very loudly to myself as an Insta monster) about what we well and not parts of our offspring can’t hurt. On the other hand, we also have to be careful that our kids don’t blame us for not making them famous on TikTok.
Would you rather listen to Patricia’s column? Which can. Every Sunday between 4 and 6 pm she reads it on Wild FM.
