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Tough question, Mom. If someone took a photo of your baby and put it on Facebook, what would you do? Immediately give it a "like" and tag yourself? Ask the photographer to take it down and gently chide them on asking permission first? Or would you ban anyone and everyone from taking photos of your child?
That's what a mom on Reddit is considering -- a ban on anyone, even family and friends, taking photos of her baby. The way she tells it, she wants to wait until her child is old enough to give permission before she creates an online presence for her, especially because her kiddo has a very unique name.
Noble as the goal may be, she's animal crackers if she thinks a ban on baby photos is going to fix anything.
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It's 2013! Cameras are everywhere! Your kid might end up on Facebook because she was on the swing beside someone else's kid at the park. Your kid might end up on a blog post because she was one car over on the rollercoaster from someone else's family.
Oh, and that name? It's going to get out there too. It's not a state secret. The preschool will post an honor roll on its website, and bingo! There it is! The dance center will post photos -- with captions -- of the itty bitty ballerinas on its Facebook page.
The question isn't whether you can (or should) control your child's name and photo getting out there. You can't. Sorry, but you just can't.
The question is what you're so afraid of. Yes, the world wide web is a big place, and we need to be security conscious. Sure, we need to be careful with how much information about our kids we share, lest someone out there be a little TOO interested (if you know what I mean). We should also teach our kids -- once they're old enough to actually get online -- that people may judge them by what they sign their name to.
But let's be realistic about postings about babies online.
In the long run, they're largely meaningless.
Your baby also won't have her life ruined because a boss comes across a photo of her in a ruffled onesie sucking on a pacifier 30 years down the line. And if your grownup child is a little peeved because she found a photo of herself wearing a Cabbage Patch wig, that's on you for buying into a ridiculous trend ... it has nothing to do with the photographer.
So go ahead, ban your family and friends from taking photos of your baby all you want. It's not going to do much for your baby, but it will drive the people close to you absolutely insane.
Do you think you should have the right to say "no pictures" of your baby? Or is this over the top?
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