Is it safe to put pictures of your child(ren) on the internet?

This is all a matter of opinion, really.

If I had a kid: I would only post pictures online (on my own blog, facebook, etc) if it was a picture of us together, during something like a family trip. Something where I was getting across my experience, and they happened to be there with me.

Pics of just my kid in the pic and nothing else? Nope.

Jason,

Some would say you're being paranoid.

Maybe so... but if (heaven forbid) I ever "spawned"... I'd want to keep my kids safe as well.

Is there a particular reason you are thinking of putting your kid's photos online?

Are they old enough to have an opinion on the matter?

-Dan

They better hope that they're more in love with the 2nd amendment than I am.


P.S.

I love it A LOT!!!

I had pictures of my child on my facebook but had the settings set as private and only my friends could see them. Well....that all changed when I figured out that if one of MY friends commented on one of my pictures, even if it was set as private....then ALL their friends can see the picture. Some of my friends have friends that I don't want seeing pics of my child so I took them all down and have a pic of myself only on my profile. Oh and one scenery shot my daughter took!!

Well let's put it this way...

Personally, I would never do it. I meet enough fruitcakes as it is... I don't even want them to know who I am or where I live, let alone if I had kids.

The chances of something going wrong are pretty slim... but that's not a chance I'd ever want to take.

-Dan

Wasn't too long ago that I remember someone (I believe a warrior member) on another forum where photo's of themself & their children were copied....photoshopped into some pretty disgusting images & passed around to other forum members....

Some truly sick people out there....

Me...I do not post any pictures of my or anyone elses kids....if I did it would be on a password protected site...for family & close friends viewing only...

JMO,
Ken

I think maybe you are being a bit paranoid. But perhaps rightly so.

Personally, I have one pic online of me with my son on my back.
You can see it in my profile. However, I don't post tons of pics
of my kids online. In fact, that's the ONLY pic of any of my kids
that is online (that I'm aware of).

However, my kids live with their mother, not myself (fighting for
custody). Unfortunately, they have unsupervised internet access
and undoubtedly will eventually upload pics of themselves, if they
haven't already.

Not to mention the fact that schools these days have websites
that also post pics of their students online.

The fact is, you probably have sickos right in your neighborhood
that already know what your children look like and where they live.
I know that we have several registered sex offenders just one street
over from us. Of course, my kids aren't allowed to wander off in that
direction when they are here, but that doesn't mean the sex offenders
couldn't be prowling the neighborhoods virtually unnoticed.

Such is life.

You can't keep them hidden away forever, but no need to advertise
them either.

What makes you think they're only on the internet?

The sickos are your neighbours. The maniacs work at the grocery store. The psychos drive the school bus.

What are you going to do, lock your kids in the basement?

The story about the pregnant lady sent shivers up my spine! is that true?

But to give us a good perspective on this lets do some guesstimate.

There hundreds of millions of profiles in social sites today, lets put it at just a low of 200 million. Then lets guesstimate again that one fourth of those are parents that have pictures of their children there, so it brings us to 25 million. Now lets estimate how many news reports of such bizarre crimes there are..Citing your post, this is the first time this year or any other year I've heard of such a story..so I would say that based on estimated statistics it's still safe to put pictures of your children online.

But what we should look out for instead is to be careful on the post we make on our social properties particularly our vacation plans. I've heard of some reports about people scanning social sites for vacation related keywords. They check out if its near their location..and you know what happens next..

Be safe..

Omar

I wouldn't put pictures of my children or any small child on the internet.

An armed populous is a polite populous.

I vote keep your kids pictures off the internet as much as possible because there are all kinds of crazies on the internet.

Keep a weapon for the real life encounters.


Rebtl

I always say if you're not sure about something, choose the option that gives greater benefit and less harm.

In this case, if you're not sure even one little bit, I think it's completely fair and reasonable to err on the side of protecting your kids.

Yes, it's safe.

Go to your local library tomorrow and borrow a copy of "Free-Range Kids" -- the statistics and facts in there are eye-openers.

Jay Jennings

Facebook profile, but not on the web at large.

I am one of those people that if the media ever showed up at my house, they'd call my collection a "cache of weapons".

I am a former police officer, and I would strongly recommend keeping your kids pictures off the internet. I once arrested a man that told me he would pick out his "hopeful targets" by either finding pictures of them or just seeing a kid while driving.

He told me he was so attracted to kids that he once got into a car crash because he spotted a kid about a block away, got so excited he smashed into a car. He also told me that he would "work on each target kid" for at least a month once he picked one out.

That is the type of weirdos that are out there.

Steve

I dont think there is any problem, i have all my family pictures put up online but the settings are saved so that its only visible on invitation to my friends and family, so there is no harm in sharing pictures online with friends. Its only a matter of opinion. Thanks

In this day and age I would avoid doing that. The internet has become a paedophiles playground

I'd put pictures of my child on things like facebook etc... I don't think there is a direct correlation between children's pictures on the net and kidnap rates.

The internet has been exponentially getting more popular. Are there any studies that show that their is a similar growth rate in kidnapping or molestation? Of the cases of kidnapping and molestation - what percentage were deemed to be internet motivated?

If I had some concrete answers to those questions it might make me more worried.

Nope. Will not put pics of the kids online.

There was recently a news report about a mother who was contacted by a good samaritan regarding her infant son's photo. Some creepo had copied the photo off of Facebook (or someplace similar - I can't remember where she had posted it now) and was using the photo as a child 'available for adoption'.

He was running a scam trying to bilk money from desperate wanna-be parents and using her child's image to do it.

The good samaritan became suspicious and looked at the photo properties. The family name was right there on the photo, so she contacted the mother.

Another story - a member of one of the mommy forums I belong to just recently had her entire adoption story 'stolen', pics and all. She had a personal blog up detailing her adoption journey. It had several pics of the child and the orphanage and the whole family.

Well, some wacko copied all the details and the pics and started posting all over the place that it was actually HER child and HER adoption story. It was a big mess. Yikes!

Nope, too many ways someone could exploit a child's image and once it's out there...it's out there.

Cindy

OH MAN!!!!!!! Keep your kids pictures, age, birthdate, full name, and specific location APART!!!! Try to NEVER put it on the internet!

I go to the airport, and hear people using kids names outloud, dressed in shirts with their names, etc... STUPID!

There are a LOT of idiots around, etc... The police are IDIOTS that DON'T CARE!!!!!

Want PROOF? I will tell you of a conspiracy that is only NOW being revealed, and reveal some things you might not have heard, because they seem to be hiding them. WHY!?!?!?

At one point, a family decided to MOVE, because they didn't think their daughter was safe. They moved to another place that was SUPPOSED to be safer. About a week before the end of school, the father was not TOO far away from his daughter. He saw ANOTHER car cut his daughter off, and they KIDNAPPED his daughter! He reported it to the police, but they didn't care. He went on the media, etc.... but NOTHING! The kidnappers hid the evidence in their back yard, setup camp, and the man raped the kidnapped girl. She had two kids. The first kid was born when she was about 14yo!!!!!

3 YEARS ago, a neighbor found out about this, told the police, but they merely went there SUPPOSEDLY. They never even went into the backyard! Recently, the male kidnapper tried to do something with the 2 younger kids, and THOSE police officers got suspicious and found out everything! So how did it end up:

Jaycee Lee Dugard Found: Missing Girl Located After 18 Years - ABC News

And the KIDNAPPER is acting like she is fine, wasn't harmed, etc... They kidnapped her, they imprisoned her for 18 years, they RAPED her, they forced her to have kids, they denied her an education, who knows what else, and they claimed they didn't harm her!

I was once robbed, gave the police EVIDENCE LEADING STRAIGHT TO THE THEIVES, and they IGNORED IT! I didn't know they ignored it until months later, and they asked me to give them ANOTHER copy after people forgot, moved, etc.... So take it from me, ALL they care about is the power, benefits, and that paycheck!

BTW IMAGINE! Her oldest child is now 4 years OLDER than she was when she was kidnapped! Her youngest child is about as old as she was when she was kidnapped. INCREDIBLE!

If I had children, I think I would tell them to NEVER reveal their birthdate, NEVER say their full real name to a stranger, and NEVER use their pictures on the internet. I don't know if you noticed, but I am that careful MYSELF! GRANTED some know EXACTLY where I live, and my approximate age. More even COULD find out my name and/or location. AND, granted, they COULD find out much more, but I don't freely give it out. When it came to my kids, I would SUE THE PANTS off of anyone even FACILITATING such things. and C.O.P.P.A would make that VERY easy! BTW COPPA was created because all I have said is TRUE! http://www.coppa.org/comply.htm

Steve

So it's stupid to call your kids by name when you're in public?

1 in a million, Steve, 1 in a million.

Parents need to stop being paranoid and afraid.

Jay Jennings

NO everybody who makes generalized statements is an IDIOT.

Some police do care, some not as much. But to say police are idiots is a dumb thing to say. You use two horrific examples, but that's not enough to condemn an entire profession.

To say COPPA was created BECAUSE of all you said doesn't make sense. That suggests that COPPA was created, in part, due to the Dugard case - sorry, but that timetable doesn't make sense.

However, about using your child's name in public...use a nickname that only sounds right coming from you. It works.

~M~

Kids don't belong in the bedroom of the online world....

It comes down to a few things.

1. If you don't have kids of your own, then you offer nothing more than theory on the issue. Even if you know the stats, or whatever, until you know the emotional bond you have with your own kids, you really can't fully comprehend this issue.

2. I wouldn't put a picture of any of my kids online. But my oldest is now in the second year of college, and uses social websites - not much I can do to keep a young adult from posting a pic or two.

3. Apart from being really stupid, it's up to each parent to decide what's best for their child(ren). By stupid I mean putting up a pic, with address, birthday, likes, dislikes, school info, etc.

4. You have to balance letting them be kids and enjoying life with protecting them. It can be a fine line, but again, it's up to each parent to make that call.

~M~

Reikidad1961 started a thread just like this about a month ago.

If you're uneasy about it then just don't do it.

I TRIED to READ all of YOUR post, STEVE, I REALLY did, BUT for SOME REASON I found THAT something kept DISTRACTING me. SORRY, I know it SHOULDN'T matter, BUT it just gets DIFFICULT to READ SOMETIMES.

YEAH, I KNOW you were talking ABOUT police AS a GROUP. That was my POINT. YOU can't condemn an ENTIRE profession based on A FEW CASES - NO MATTER how BAD they ARE. YOU are USING a FEW examples to "PROVE" a POINT. HOW many OTHER cases DID they SOLVE? OH WAIT - answering THAT wouldn't back UP your POINT - SO feel FREE to IGNORE all the GOOD WORK they have DONE, and CONTINUE to DO.

I have had POLICE help me, HELP me STAY ALIVE. There have been a FEW bad EXPERIENCES with THEM, BUT VERY FEW. They have a TOUGH job, AND I APPRECIATE what they DO.

JUST don't make IT sound LIKE THEY are ALL bad. THEY'RE not.

As far as kids go, my point was just what you mentioned. Use a nickname with them. At the age of 40 my dad still calls me by my childhood nickname, but if ANYONE else called me that, it wouldn't sound RIGHT. The SAME IDEA applies to your KIDS.

Oh, and stop acting like a. "If you don't want to heed the advice, have a cute kid, and are around some bad guy, don't be surprised." What does that mean? Like it would be the fault of the parent? Or does it mean that the sickos ONLY go after "cute" kids? Or ONLY your advice will keep them safe? Lots of misconceptions crammed into that sentence.

Also, the insinuation - YES YOU WERE INSINUATING - that I somehow don't care about my kids is insulting. So, when you say, "You know me." I can only respond by saying, yes, I do, and you never let me down with your comments. They challenge me at a different level, and that's a good thing.



~M~

Steve,

Although I do like you and usually enjoy the content you provide....

YOU are one of the MOST paranoid people I've ever come across.

The story you pointed out has NOTHING to do with someone
being kidnapped as a direct result of pictures being posted on
the internet. In fact, the only thing that case has to do with
the internet is the reporting of it going on now.

She was abducted apparently right in front of her father on
her way to the school bus 18 years ago, by a complete stranger.
She was probably randomly selected while the kidnapper was
driving down the road.

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with posting pictures of
your children on the internet. Surely, you, of all people can
come up with something better than that to back up your
reasons NOT to put pictures of children online?

While I wouldn't go around posting pics of my kids all over
the internet, I'm not going to live in fear of them being
abducted if they post pics of themselves somewhere online.

I don't really think posting pics on the internet raises their
chances of being abducted and/or murdered anymore than
allowing them to go to the mall or the movies or even over
to a friends house. Hell, just letting them go to the bus stop
alone leaves the possibility of being kidnapped, murdered, etc.

In fact, there's probably a better chance of them being molested
at church than there is being abducted because of a picture
posted online.

Obviously, I could be wrong here. But I do KNOW that I refuse
to live in fear and don't expect my children to live in fear either.
I think that just makes them a more likely victim than a child that
is taught to defend themselves in case of some weird incident.

Just my thoughts.

Matt

I've been posting photos and videos of my kids online for over a decade. I've even had live video in or around my house for nearly 10 years so that the Grandparents could watch the kids play. Maybe I'm being naive. But in my opinion there's a greater chance of a kid being abducted if he's neglected, or il-prepared to handle a stranger.

My children are never neglected, and they've been taught from the earliest age possible how to handle a stranger. And actually my willingness to put them online may actually make them safer than other kids. For one, it would be practically impossible for a stranger to enter my property without one of my live webcams picking them up. And if by chance on of my kids were taken, their pictures are already plastered on the internet, so it wouldn't take long to get the word out.

I agree very much with Gary. I have 5 wonderful little children and their pictures are everywhere, they are on my twitter page with me at times, they are on my personal blog, they are on my facebook, there are little videos of my kids on youtube etc.

And I keep track of my children, my daughter has a cell phone that has an auto 911 button, and has had it since she was 7 years old.

When I go out with my kids they wear harnesses (and I don't care what comments come of that, I have 2 autistic sons who would wonder into traffic if I didn't) the ones that understand know not to go with strangers etc, my children never play outside without an adult, except when it is the older two who are 6 and 11, and then my daughter always has says phone on her. My children have a set route back and fourth from school and they know if they are more than 5 minutes past expected time home Momma's coming looking.

You can be safe or you can be overly paranoid and cause your children to live in fear. I would rather my children grow up not being afraid of their own shadow, but knowing to be careful of those that may lurk in shadows.

Just my 2 cents as a mom to many,
Sylvia

It's up to you but I'd never do it

It's true there are people that stalk kids via the internet. It's also true that kids are harmed by their own parents at times.

The net is made up of the same people who are your neighbors, co-workers, enemies, etc. You have to be as careful whether you are online or on the street. If you don't use some common sense, you can be vicitimized. You can be victimized going to the store, but have you quit grocery shopping over it? A lot of women are abducted from Mall parking lots. It's the rare woman who quits shopping rather than just adapt some healthy and smart habits while in the parking lot, though.

I worked in a crisis center - rape and molestation. You would think that step-daddies are a bit dangerous? Not as often as real daddies are. Yep - daddies are the leaders in the stats for molesting little kids.
2 out of 5 little girls are molested by the time they are 18. That's one scary figure that nothing else will compare to.

We used to hold classes and educate kids about their own safety. You can't be with someone 24/7. Kids have to know how to help themselves -- and now, that means educated about internet stalkers, too. While it is much less likely they will be abducted by an internet stalker as it is that they will be molested in their own home, it's still a frightening reality. There are psychos all over, if there is a psycho on solid ground, there's going to be a psycho on the net.

I think we need to just understand that the Net is just an extension of society and it's not completely safe any more than any other place is. Look at the murderers who get victims from online dating. We had a serial killer out here that took out over 56 women before he got caught - internet dates. Do we presume to think he'd have never found victims if he hadn't gotten online? I hardly doubt that would have stopped him, maybe slowed him down a tad. And just try sometime to find a college campus that's not crawlin' with psychos. Good luck.

Use common sense but don't go completely schizo over possibilities. You might not want to post your kid's pic with a story about him and his town, but don't get freaky if the kid's pic is posted standing in a group of other kids somewhere. Be realistic.

Another thing you need to remember is that when a child goes missing - the internet can also help FIND that child in time - and it doesn't matter where the pervert came from, online or on pavement.

I wouldnt do it. Too many weirdos out there with too much time on their hands