Parenting in our current dispensation has taken a different drift from what it used to be. This drift has heightened with the advancement of technology and social media. Social media has altered our communication and how we share our lives with others. In this new world where social media gives us our own soapbox with no boundaries, it’s also affected our parenting and hence sharenting.
Sharenting is a coinage formed out of the words; sharing and parenting. It essentially talks about the habitual behavior of parents publicizing sensitive content about their children on internet platforms. If you have children or take care of children, it is a bad idea to document their lives on social media.
Take a stroll on the various social media platforms and you would be greeted with countless pictures and videos of children engaged in one activity or the other. You snap when the baby yawns, grins, sleeps, takes first steps, eats, etc with a whole lot of buzzing captions. Suddenly, the three weeks baby girl is your woman_crush_Wednesday. (Hahaha)
Unfortunately, all the parents or caregivers would care about are the reactions, comments, and hits the content receives without considering the risk associated with the indiscriminate sharing of your child’s life with your connections.
In most data protection regulations, information covering children is considered sensitive information requiring an additional layer of security to protect. There is a problem of lack of consent as children do not understand what is going on. In other instances, children who are not in agreement with such processing may not be bold enough to confront their parents to avoid sharing such content about them.
One of the most worrying aspects of sharenting is the potential to compromise children’s privacy. When parents share pictures or videos of their children online, they are essentially giving strangers access to their personal lives. This can be particularly dangerous in our societies today where cases of child trafficking and abuse are on the rise. When parents post images of their children online, they may be unknowingly exposing them to predators who are looking for vulnerable targets.
Another concern with sharenting is its impact on a child’s self-esteem. When parents post pictures or videos of their children online, they are basically building a public image of them. This can be particularly problematic if the child is not comfortable with the image being shared. In some cases, children may feel embarrassed or ashamed of the pictures that their parents have shared, leading to a negative impact on their self-esteem.
Additionally, sharenting can lead to a phenomenon known as “digital kidnapping.” This occurs when someone takes pictures of someone else’s child and passes them off as their own. This can be particularly distressing for parents who may find themselves dealing with the aftermath of a digital kidnapping. It can also lead to confusion among friends and family members who may not be able to distinguish between the real child and the fake one.
Furthermore, sharenting can also have long-term consequences for children. As they grow up, they may find themselves embarrassed by the pictures and videos that their parents have shared. They may also be concerned about the impact that these images will have on their future career prospects. Potential employers or colleagues may be put off by the images that have been shared online, leading to a negative impact on their professional lives. We should not be surprised to witness instances where children would be taking legal actions on their parents because of the content they created about them on the internet when they were young.
Sharenting is a worrying trend in our societies today. While it may seem harmless, it can actually have negative consequences for children and their families. Parents should be cautious about what they share online and should consider the potential impact that their actions may have on their children’s privacy and self-esteem. By taking a more measured approach to sharing images and videos of their children, parents can help to protect them from the dangers of sharenting having in mind that the internet never forgets.
Source: Modern Ghana
