Social media use by school

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scetoaux

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Topic # 228724 19-Jan-2018 11:00

I have a child in primary school and it was recently brought to my attention that the school runs a *public* Facebook page to post news updates, photos of school activities, sports days etc.

I'm not a social media user, and I'm really very surprised that the school would be doing this due to the obvious (total lack of) privacy implications for the students.

A major issue here is that the school doesn't seem to have any sort of written policy on the use of social media, nor have we been asked as parents whether we would allow our child to be included / mentioned in these posts.

Obviously I'll be speaking to the school about this but I just wondered if anyone had experienced anything similar? Given that most people don't seem to have any issue with it, I'd like to make sure I'm articulate enough in my approach that my issue and concerns are fully understood.

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Reply # 1943393 19-Jan-2018 11:10

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Doesn't bother me in the least.

In fact, i find it very useful.

I recall our school mentioned in a newsletter that you can request your kids to be excluded from facebook / school newsletters.

I'm sure you can ask your school to exclude your child from facebook ... there is no reason for them to say no.

I do tire of the modern trend of policies being written for every aspect of life. Too much paperwork that few people read.

scuwp

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Reply # 1943411 19-Jan-2018 11:27

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Facebook posts from both my children's schools and love them. Great way to keep up to date with happenings and giving you the ability to share in your child's day that you otherwise would miss out on. It's a great way to distribute info also like cancellations and announcements.

I'm not sure what the issue is? If you are that paranoid about it I am sure the school could simply exclude your child from any public media, but personally we have a huge collection of pictures and videos of special moments that we would otherwise have missed out on, and we always know whats going on.

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gehenna

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Reply # 1943413 19-Jan-2018 11:28

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How's that any different from having a public school website with a blog on it, like most school websites have?

You're looking for problems where there aren't any.

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Reply # 1943418 19-Jan-2018 11:31

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And this is why teachers are leaving teaching as too many busy body parents thinking Jimmy should be wrapped in cotton wool

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hsvhel

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Reply # 1943424 19-Jan-2018 11:34

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Sounds like you looking for a non-issue. There's probably bigger things within the school that you concern could be focused

cebo

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Reply # 1943439 19-Jan-2018 11:47

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I tend to agree with op, parents should be given the option. At my school - I'm a teacher - parents are asked to give signed photo permission when their child starts school. This covers facebook, newspapers etc. Most parents are fine, but we have a few exceptions. It's not a problem, we just have to be a bit careful with what we post.

scuwp

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Reply # 1943452 19-Jan-2018 12:02

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cebo:

I tend to agree with op, parents should be given the option. At my school - I'm a teacher - parents are asked to give signed photo permission when their child starts school. This covers facebook, newspapers etc. Most parents are fine, but we have a few exceptions. It's not a problem, we just have to be a bit careful with what we post.

And why should 99.9% of parents miss out just because little [insert name here] happens to be in the same video/shot? Borderline tin foil hat brigade.

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reven

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Reply # 1943460 19-Jan-2018 12:14

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My sons old school had a cyber safety thing parents had to sign.

They had a class blog (this was good, wish it was updated more though). The facebook group I find very useful, tells me when theres a mufti day or some kind of event. Notices get lost in his bag, he often doesnt bring them home.

Ive never seen a "bad" picture of a kid that would do them any harm, just them doing cross country, on stage for assembly, things they made etc.

If you're that worried about it though, Im sure you can request the school not post any photos of your kids.

allan

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Reply # 1943461 19-Jan-2018 12:14

Can't help but think this is inventing an issue where none exists. Back in the day in Taranaki (I think there were others too), there was a monthly magazine called "Photo News"*, which published people photos from all over the province. No one batted an eyelid about being included in there. You are just dealing with the online equivalent of what has been common practice for many a long year.

*Actually, these have all be reproduced online now too https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/96305432/a-taranaki-history-in-photo-news-finally-makes-it-online

gwh

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Reply # 1943478 19-Jan-2018 12:49

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Very recent ex-BOT member of a primary and then a secondary school here. It's totally appropriate for you to ask for your kids to be excluded from social media postings. This will probably also exclude them from all media ie print, TV etc. Your school should already have a list of kids who aren't to be included in media postings for various reasons.

Whether they have a separate social media policy or just a procedure under their privacy policy will be up to the individual school. Because media, particularly social media, is such a dynamic thing I'd expect a procedure if anything.

Be aware that at secondary schools in particular there are often unofficial facebook pages about school life run by students. The content is really only governed by the FB rules and these types of pages are virtually impossible for the school to police.

freitasm

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Reply # 1943483 19-Jan-2018 12:55

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My opinion is the school should have a policy of asking for parents agreement to post kids photos on the Internet.

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scetoaux

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Reply # 1943484 19-Jan-2018 12:56

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Just to clarify, my issue with this lies solely with the use of Facebook (the advertising company) as the delivery tool. Surely we shouldn't be handing over other people's personal data to an advertising company before they are old enough to decide for themselves whether they wish to be part of it?

gwh

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Reply # 1943493 19-Jan-2018 13:05

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scetoaux:

Just to clarify, my issue with this lies solely with the use of Facebook (the advertising company) as the delivery tool. Surely we shouldn't be handing over other people's personal data to an advertising company before they are old enough to decide for themselves whether they wish to be part of it?

By data I assume you mean the child's image? This would fall into the category of you as parent making the call whether you wanted the image on FB or not because I assume your child is not of an age to make an informed decision themselves. There are a number of things in a child's life that are taken out of their hands to a greater or lesser extent that they may choose to do differently upon reflection when they gain the insight there are other possibilities. Family diet, religious observance including Bible in Schools, Vaccinations to name a few.

At the end of the day, if you aren't comfortable with having your child/ren's image on FB then tell the school so. Nothing will be lost by your decision to exclude your child from media and the request is so routine the school will not think anything of you one way or the other.

It's extremely difficult for a school to discriminate on your behalf between social media and a photo in the paper of your child at a sports day so be prepared for the piece of paper you sign to be an all or nothing ban.

MurrayM

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Reply # 1943494 19-Jan-2018 13:06

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cebo:

I tend to agree with op, parents should be given the option. At my school - I'm a teacher - parents are asked to give signed photo permission when their child starts school. This covers facebook, newspapers etc. Most parents are fine, but we have a few exceptions. It's not a problem, we just have to be a bit careful with what we post.

Does this mean that for any photo that the school wants to put on FB someone has to look at the photo and identify each and every kid and then look up to see if that kid has a signed permission for them to be included in photos? I'm sure glad I'm not the staff member who has to upload the photos from your last sports day, where I imagine most photos have dozens of kids in them!

freitasm

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Reply # 1943495 19-Jan-2018 13:10

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Yes the school would have to vet photos. Yes, it is more work but it is their decision to have that presence.

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