Experts Warn Back-to-School Pictures Can Be Unsafe for Kids—What Parents Need To Know
Back-to-school time is meant to be a fun and exciting time for parents and kids. The summer was lovely and it was great to spend so much time with your children, but for parents, it’s also nice to send them back to class. And for kids, they’re excited to see and spend lots of time with their friends, even if it means that school is involved. It’s not really a time that’s a cause for concern, but unfortunately, a cute back-to-school tradition might be putting your kids at risk—and you might not even realize it.
This trend—which is kind of old and might be something even you did as a kid—involves a back-to-school photo of your child and a sign that has their grade. Read on to find out why that can be a safety risk and how you can prevent certain internet users from succeeding in using that photo against you and your child.
Related: What Is a 'Back-to-School Necklace'?
Why back-to-school photos of your kid might be dangerous to post online
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) reported last year that back-to-school photos can create safety issues for your child. There’s been a trend for a while where kids hold up a chalkboard (or other customizable sign) that has their grade on it and smile for a first-day-of-school picture. These types of pictures, again, have your kid’s face, their grade and sometimes even their school or teacher's name, which gives too much information to bad people on the internet.
All of this information gives predators a lot of information about your child that they can use to get to your kid. But, also, any personal information linked to you through your child can also be used by scammers to commit identity theft or scam you with more realistic information.
Albany, NY’s News 10 reported that popular pre-made chalkboards have way too much information on them to post online. Information like the school year, full name, what school they go to, how old they are and even a fun tidbit about them should not be included in a back-to-school sign photo.
An expert also pointed out to NBC News Chicago that even the background of your back-to-school photo can be giving too much information to the internet.
"Remember, it is not your child’s precious face that’s the problem, it’s what is behind them," Joe Miller, Chief of Police at the Palos Park Police Department, told NBC News Chicago. "Things like your house number, what your house looks like, your street name, your car, license plate number or even where your child catches the school bus could be clues those unsavory characters use against you.”
Related: 30+ Best Back-to-School Party Ideas
What are some safety tips for parents when it comes to photos of their kids?
Keep private information off the internet
While your kid’s grade and the fact they’re going back to school might not seem like a lot of info, it is still private information. And the age-old internet safety rule of keeping private information private still very much applies here. Revealing where your child goes to school or even the name of their teacher for the year can open you up to hackers too, who might use these hints to guess (or know) answers to your security questions.
The information that should never be shared online, according to the McHenry County Sheriff’s office, per NBC News Chicago, are:
School name (this also includes school logos, specific uniforms or other identifiers of the school in any post)
Age of child
Teacher's name and grade
Identifying features of your child, such as height and weight
"Overly personal" information—AKA items that could lead to security question answers
Again, even sharing your child’s favorite subject or favorite thing can lead predators to contact them online and better disguise themselves as someone your child might be interested in talking to.
Limit who has access to your social media accounts
While it’s fun to post your life to the world sometimes, if you have a public account, anyone—and we mean anyone—can see what you post. So, if you’re posting your kid’s photo, anyone can download or screenshot it for nefarious purposes. It might be best to only post these things on a private account where you vet every person who can see your child and any other information you want to share.
You should keep personal information off private accounts too, but at least it’s a bit tighter security on who sees your kid and what’s going on in your life. With vetting accounts on your private social media, also make sure everyone is really who you think they are. BBB warns us to be vigilant of fake friend requests or accounts.
Have a safety word with your child
If the worst case scenario happens and someone finds out your kid’s name and where they attend school, having a safe word with your child helps with predators trying to pick them up. Sometimes the easiest way predators abduct a kid is to pretend they’re a distant relative. Some schools now have designated lists of approved adults to pick of their child, but even if that system fails, a safety word with your child may save them.
Come up with a word that only you, the parents, and your child know. Then, any new person picking them up will have to know this word and present it to the child so that they know to go with them. Even if a kid doesn’t know the predator, if they’re told, “Mommy sent me! She’s in the hospital and I’m helping her out,” they might listen to this new “authority” figure. A safety word works to help ensure this doesn’t happen.
Next up, read this safety tip about not moving a dryer sheet you find in your mailbox.
