"They include too much detail." The photos of our kids we need to stop posting on social media.

Millennials are known to document their children’s lives more than any other generation before them. And as a 30-something-year-old mum, I’m guilty of it. The first picture I posted of my daughter online was one where she wasn’t even born yet.

It was an ultrasound that showed her curled up like a little black-and-white bean in my womb. 

As a first-time parent, I was excited to share with my friends and family what I was going through. I’m pregnant and there is life inside me! I even edited the photo by drawing a couple of digital arrows to show where her head was so they knew exactly what they were looking at.

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However, after she was born, I started to reflect on this trend.

Is it okay to post pictures of your kids on social media?

What if they can’t tell us whether they want us to?

Should we be making these decisions when we’re not the actual person in the photo?

What if we share more than a photo? For instance, personal details that can potentially get them into trouble?

Usually in September, the most common birthday month in Australia, I’ll start seeing a pattern.

As I scroll through my social media feeds, I’m inundated with photos of adorable children holding beautifully decorated chalkboards with flowers, colourful drawings, and enough information for any hacker to commit identity theft.

However, from their first month of life to the dozens of birthdays to come, here’s why I do not succumb to this trend, as innocent as it may seem.

Scammers, predators, and hackers.

Some of the information that I’ve seen on these birthday chalkboards are very detailed. They include entire names (including middle names), full birth dates, city of birth, birth hospital, weight, height, favourite activities, colours, toys, sports, and books.

Some parents put their street name, daycare information, nanny’s name, school, teacher, and grade. I’ve even seen pictures where the kid stands in front of their house, clearly revealing their home address and car’s make, model, and licence plate number

A lot of this information is quite personal and I don’t know who’s going to see it. I don’t know who is going to use it and what they’re going to use it for.

Imagine this scenario:

A stranger has somehow gotten access to my Instagram account and can see everything I post. They get to know my kids and follow my activities for the next few months.

Then one day, they show up at my kid’s school and they know exactly what they look like. They come up to them and say, "Hey Sally [not my child’s real name, obviously], I’m a friend of your mum, Katharine. You guys live on 123 Fake Street and Mr. Fakeman is your teacher, right? I know you love cats. My cat, Furball, just gave birth to a litter of kittens in my van. Your mum told me it’s okay for you to play with them. Wanna come with me?"

Or maybe instead of coming to the school, the hacker just takes the information and creates a different account with my child’s pictures and commits identity fraud?

Or maybe they are able to take the information, figure out my passwords by answering my security questions, and scam me digitally?

Better safe than sorry, am I right?

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Kids should make their own informed choices.

My kids are still too young to have social media accounts but it doesn’t mean they have consented for me to post their information online. I have to respect their decision or lack of decision, in this case. First, do no harm.

Social media and the internet aren’t going away any time soon. It’s like back in the day when my parents thought the television was going to rot our brains. But instead of teaching us how to self-regulate and manage our limitations, they created rules and told us that watching too much TV will make us blind... which isn’t actually true.

I know it’s inevitable that my kids will be exposed to all the weird and nasty stuff that live on the Internet. But instead of using fear-mongering tactics, I’m committed to using an informative, open, and honest approach. I’m teaching them about the risks, benefits, and consequences of this technology so they can make informed and responsible choices when they begin their journey into the online world.

Besides, even if nothing bad happens, years down the road when my kids are old enough to understand, I don’t want them to hate me for posting something they never wanted to be posted in the first place.

So yes, I have social media and I do post things on there but 90 per cent of the photos are articles I’ve written and meals I’ve cooked. I write and cook. That’s my thing.

I don’t trust privacy settings because people can still screenshot and find other ways to access my information without me knowing.

I know these companies need to make money. Maybe they’re selling my data or maybe there’s a privacy breach... they’re businesses, at the end of the day.

Therefore, I’m putting my mama bear claws out and protecting my children in the real world and the virtual one, as long as I can.

Katharine Chan, MSc, BSc, PMP is an author, wife and mum of two. She writes stories to empower individuals to talk about their feelings despite growing up in a culture that hid them. You can find more from Katharine on her website or podcast or you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

Feature Image: Getty