Should you give your child's school permission to post their images?

Should you consent to your child's school publishing their images? How would you feel about your child's photo being posted on their school's Facebook page? It's a consideration for parents when enrolling their child into school and often at the start of each new academic year. Schools need permission to publish student information including photos for their newsletter, website, reports, learning platforms and social media, explains Karley Beckman, senior lecturer in digital technologies at the University of Wollongong. But many use "bundled consent" forms — where the school asks for several types of permission with a single "yes or no". Dr Beckman says that can prevent parents from approving internal uses such as a newsletter, while declining external platforms like Facebook, which differ in terms of privacy and their child's digital footprint. "The nature of sharing on each of those platforms is quite distinct." And experts warn there can be social consequences for children from families who opt out. Growing awareness to protect children's data Digital wellbeing researcher Joanne Orlando from Western Sydney University says while most parents will "trust the school" and consent to them sharing their child's photos, there's a growing awareness around digital safety. Earlier this year, a Brisbane school committed to no longer sharing "recognisable" photos of students on its official social media accounts. "Parents are so much more aware than even 12 months ago. We've seen a lot happen this year, particularly around AI really gaining traction," Dr Orlando says. For example, the possibility that generative AI could be used to manipulate and doctor images to create child exploitation material. But many will think "I don't want my child to miss out on being photographed for an awards night", Dr Orlando says as an example. Sign up to the ABC Lifestyle newsletter It's part of the reason why Dr Beckman says bundled consent forms can feel "coercive". "It's coercive in that if you say no [to sharing your child's information] you do get the sense your child is missing out on a broad range of activities." But photos aren't just data There is a tension between protecting children's privacy and ensuring that privacy practices don't inadvertently make children feel "unseen or excluded", says Lauri Parr, a participatory visual artist and human rights researcher at Curtin University. "With current concerns about privacy [and safety] … we are increasingly looking at photos from this perspective of what information is that image sharing about my child's identity. "But that's not the only thing that goes on with a photo, there are other things," she says, such as memories and a sense of belonging. She says opting out of a child's information and images being used by their school can have social consequences. "Some of the practices such as pixelating a child's face, we perhaps solve the issue of a stranger getting that data, but what message have we sent to the child about them? "They don't understand that 'some data about me has been redacted to not give to a stranger', they just see 'all my friends are there and I'm not.'" Dr Beckman says each school will handle the situation differently. "Unfortunately, it does often look like them being taken to the side and excluded from group photos." She says it's understandably difficult for teachers to execute these policies, and an additional workload to manage students whose carers don't consent to publishing. Research with stakeholders has shown that reducing the number of photos being taken could help reduce that workload, Dr Beckman says. "We need to question the value of taking huge quantities of images of children [to share online] and question who is benefiting from that? "It's certainly not the children." One of the main reasons schools post photos of students on social media is to market their school, and they believe it's what parents want, recent research from Dr Beckman found. Finding a balance and including children in decision-making Parents have the right to consent or decline the use of their children's information for specific purposes. If you can't do this on the form, Dr Beckman encourages parents to contact the school. Before giving consent, she recommends parents look at the quantity of information shared by the school, for example the number of photos posted. Parents can also ask about strategies used to protect children's privacy, and the purpose of the posts. Dr Beckman says parents also have the right to change their consent at any time if they "aren't comfortable with what is happening at the school". Parents can involve their children in the decision-making process by asking if they are aware of the school's social media and how do they feel about having their photo taken. More broadly, Dr Beckman encourages parents to model safe and healthy digital habits, for example, asking for a child's permission before taking their photo and explaining its purpose. For example, "Is it OK if I take a photo of you to show Grandma how you look in your soccer uniform?" Ms Parr says allowing children to take photos helps support their positive identity and social belonging, without their face being included. "Their face is more relevant to the school and its promotion than to the child, who may, for example, be quite happy with a picture of a medal they got on sports day or an award or something where they are not necessarily identifiable." Dr Orlando says every family will deal with decisions around technology differently and we need to keep having conversations about how we are taking and using children's photos. "We can still be proud of our kids without putting it on Facebook."