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Positives and negatives of sharenting

As a parent in today’s age, how familiar are you with the term “Sharenting?” Sharenting is the common practice where parents share content about their children on the internet.

Whilst there are many positive aspects of sharenting, enabling parents to stay connected with family and friends can seem like an innocent enough thing to do, but you could actually be sharing a lot more than you first initially thought.

Photo-by-Sarah-Chai-from-Pexels
Photo-by-William-Fortunato-from-Pexels
Photo by William Fortunato from Pexels
Photo-by-Julia-M-Cameron-from-Pexels
Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels

I have myself watched a mother share a video of her child saying he wanted to commit suicide because he was being bullied for his disability. In the video, the mom was saying that people should educate their children about bullying and how much it can affect a person. People from all over the world responded to the video and a lot of people came together to help this child and family out. This could therefore be seen to be helpful in circumstances where a child is possibly at risk of abuse or neglect. 

We also however have to be aware of the negative side- for instance any publicly shared photographs of children could be collected by individuals who are interested in sexual gratification from looking at images of children. You should therefore always be aware of your settings and checking who is able to access your social media posts.

Children should have the ability to develop their own identity in the world and have the silly little mischievous things they do, (even the small mistakes they make as they are learning to navigate in the world), be forgotten about as they become older but instead, we’re doing the exact opposite. As their parents, we’re creating a digital record that will live far beyond any embarrassing temper tantrum they had over a broken crayon.

It is therefore important to think before you post, as more people could gain access than you think. Always consider the bigger picture and how your children’s safety could be affected.