Your Child’s Name on Google
There has been a lot of talk lately about the extent to which parents exchange pictures, anecdotes and information about their children on the Internet, a practice that has come to be known as “sharing.”
Author Christy Tate wrote an essay for The Washington Post last month about the moment her fourth grader discovered how much Tate wrote about her throughout her childhood. When her daughter asked her to stop, Tate wrote that she could not make such a promise. Readers’ reaction was, to put it mildly, critical.
But even if you’ve managed to exercise enough restraint to keep your kids’ information and images offline, that doesn’t mean everyone else is doing it. According to The Atlantic , searching for your own name on Google has become a rite of passage for our children’s generation. And what they find, although not always harmful or embarrassing, at least borders on the intrusive.
When 11-year-old Ellen finally decided to search Google on her own, she didn’t expect to find anything because she didn’t have her own social media accounts yet. She was stunned when she found the results of years of swimming and sports statistics online. The personal story she wrote in third grade was also posted on the class website with her name on it. “I didn’t think I would be on the Internet like this,” she told me.
In the meantime, parents have to periodically search Google for their children’s names to find out what kind of digital identity is being created without their knowledge. Schools, especially preschools and elementary schools, can post photos and videos on social media to keep parents informed and involved. A quick search of your child’s name, especially if it is somewhat unique, can reveal participation in sports or after-school clubs. Or, you may find that your Aunt Mary’s Facebook profile is still publicly available, and photos from holiday parties are on public display.
Once you discover who or what is sharing information about your child online, you can start figuring out how to take back control by researching the school’s social media policies, or sitting down Aunt Mary and helping to adjust her privacy settings.