Monday, March 4, 2019

What am I allowed to share about you?

I usually work on my blog in the mornings, when my son is first awake and supposed to get ready for school. Sometimes he wanders into the office and asks what I am writing about. I always let him read it.

He knows that I don't use his name, he knows that I don't post embarrassing stories about him and he knows that I don't share photos of him. His school does a good job of talking to children about digital literacy and privacy, so I can build upon those conversations at home.

Now that he is older, I will have to add more context to the conversation. I am, after all, human. And there will be a time when everything I do will seem embarrassing to him. And, he may not want me to post about him at all. So, we'll need to work on the boundaries now. I also need to make sure that he realizes that not everyone in his life will respect those guardrails: There will always be a well-meaning relative, friend or social organization that may post without permission.

I want him to start thinking about what he would be comfortable with in the long-term. That is a difficult ask of someone so young, but better he think about it before he starts Googling himself and is unpleasantly surprised by the results. Will he be fine with what he sees? How will he approach the conversation if he is uncomfortable with the results?

Privacy is a much bigger conversation than when he was three and I had to teach him to knock on closed doors.

Do your children know how much information you share about them? Tell me about it in the comments. 

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