Right now a baby is shouting because he doesn't want to eat his lunch. What are the parents doing? They' re filming the scene on a smartphone. Soon after, they' re posting the video on social media. A teenage boy is playing a new song on his guitar. His mother is filming him. Two days later, the boy discovers that other people are watching the video online.
Parents in the UK post about 1,000 photos of their children online from when they are born until their fifth birthday, a phenomenon(现象) called"sharenting". Babies don't care about this at the time. But a study by the University of Michigan suggests that there is a difference with 10-to 17-year-olds. Teenagers don't always like parents posting some photos. All babies cry, but teenagers don't want people to see old photos of themselves doing this.
Some parents share all sorts of photos of their children, maybe even when they are doing something silly. They do it with good intentions, for example to share special moments with grandparents who live far away. But some middle-aged users of social media don't check their privacy(隐私) settings and share posts with others by accident.
In some countries, it isn't allowed to post photos of your own children without their permission. In Italy, a 16-year-old boy is allowed to force his mother either to stop sharing photos of him on social media or pay a €10,000 fine! In France, parents pay fines of up to €45,000 and can spend a year in prison(监狱) when they post photos of their children without their permission.
Parents are usually very sensible about photos of their children. The report from the University of Michigan suggests this is an area where it's important for parents to listen to children over ten. Let them say what they are happy to share, and who with. That way the whole family can enjoy looking back at all those special moments.
