WHY IT MATTERS
Material parents consider harmless can look very different when placed in the hands of classmates, bullies or hostile strangers. Childhood footage can be copied, circulated and deliberately used to humiliate the person depicted.
1. AVOID EMBARRASSING CONTENT
Tantrums, punishments and humiliating mistakes can become ammunition.
2. KEEP INTIMATE MOMENTS PRIVATE
Personal childhood experiences don’t belong in strangers’ archives.
3. PROTECT SCHOOL INFORMATION
Academic difficulties can become material for teasing.
4. DON’T BROADCAST VULNERABILITY
Fear, sadness and insecurity should not become entertainment.
5. LIMIT PUBLIC ACCESS
Smaller audiences reduce exposure.
6. CONSIDER HOSTILE CONTEXT
Ask how a malicious person could reinterpret the clip.
7. DEVELOP DIGITAL AWARENESS
Children should increasingly participate in posting decisions.
8. REVIEW HISTORIC CONTENT
Material appropriate years ago may become problematic later.
9. PROTECT DIGNITY
Entertainment should never depend on humiliating a child.
10. CONSIDER THE FUTURE AUDIENCE
Today’s viewers aren’t necessarily the only people who will ever see it.
BOTTOM LINE
A parent may upload the joke, but the child may eventually become its punchline.