The Age of the ‘Sharent’ – Are parents sharing too much about their children on Social Media?

These days, it seems everything is posted on social media, from holidays abroad to what someone has had for dinner that evening. Mostly this is all harmless fun and a good way of sharing your life with your friends and families, however are parents taking things too far and posting pictures of their children without their consent?

A recent case was before the court in Italy in which the Judge ruled that the mother of the child was no longer allowed to share photos, posts or even mention her sixteen year old son on social media. If she ignores this, she could face a fine of £10,000 Euros. 

The son had quite frankly had enough of his mother posting pictures of him on social media. His parents were going through a divorce and at trial, the son stated he did not wish to be on any of his parents social media pages. 

With social media being so prolific in our lives, it is inevitable that these cases will become more and more common and that the court will listen to children’s views about what should be posted online.

We have seen a rise in complaints from clients about their ex partners over use of their child on social media and it will be interesting to see if the law over here will start imposing sanctions on ‘Sharent’s going forward.

It comes as second nature to upload our family snaps on #Social media. Been on a family holiday? Upload the pics to #Facebook. Enjoying a day out? It goes straight on Instagram. A couple of clicks and you have shared photos of your children without even thinking about it.

Sharing family life
We live in a digital age where we choose to share most of our family life online. We mark milestones and events by posting photos that previously would have been kept in a photo album at home. First tooth? First steps? The very first day of school all shared on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat with the rest of the world.