In the period we live in, people generally put social media platforms at the center of their lives. Social media platforms apart from communication; We use it extensively for shopping, obtaining information, following the agenda and for other purposes. But are there any mistakes that we make unconsciously among these activities?
Do the Truman Show come alive in your eyes when you are constantly sharing your children on your social media account? Can we be punished for a violation of rights years later for a post we made today? Have you ever felt guilty while sharing a photo? If your answer to all these questions is no, you may not have heard of Sharenting.
Couldn’t watch between us To summarize without giving spoilers for our friends; The Truman Show Released in 1998, it was one of the first Sharenting acts in our modern history, starring Jim Carrey and about Truman being watched on television around the world since his birth.
Today, most of us, even 95% of us according to US data, have surrendered to the concept of Sharenting. The future will affect our life forever; maybe unknowingly, maybe willingly or we provide due to material profits We are opening the Sharenting File that we cannot give up.
I’m a child, not a tool for interaction!
Sharenting concept; It was first coined in 2010 by combining the words sharing and parenting. Sharenting literally “shared parenting” We can translate as If we define Sharenting briefly; your families Sharing information or images of their children under the age of 18 on social media without their consent and make it a habit.
An ultrasound image taken in the mother’s womb, a newborn baby, a 7-year-old fresh student or a teenager is no different in the concept of Sharenting. your child be under 18 years old and have been violated by their family It is sufficient for sharenting. In addition, it is an unjustified Sharenting whether the sharing on social media is good or bad. In other words, there is no difference between sharing a cute baby or sharing a cute girl and sharing an ugly or dirty child in terms of Sharenting. In short, the name of Sharenting is always Sharenting. There is no difference between good or bad poses, beautiful or ugly frames. Also, Sharenting is not limited to sharing photos. Video/audio recordings or location sharing of children also fall within the limits of Sharenting. The news sharing of children is also referred to as Sharenting.
Adverse effects of sharenting on children
Parents; They open joint or child-specific social media accounts with their children and share here. All these accounts and shares a digital footprint without consent causing it to quit. This digital identity may appear in front of the child at any time in the future. Also here is the virtual identity created for the child; It may also be an identity that does not belong to the child, which he will have to assume in the future. This seriously affects the personal and psychological development of the child.
Pedefolis with polluted minds use social media platforms as intermediaries. Children’s photos are shared publicly on most illegal pedefoli platforms and other social media accounts. In this respect for families to be cautious there is great benefit. Even for this reason alone, it is recommended that parents think twice about what they will share.
Fathers are more sensitive to Sharenting than mothers.
According to a study by Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and her team; 75% of parents who use social media at least once a month share about their children at least once a month. This rate is increasing every year. Although the answers of the mothers and fathers were combined under the umbrella of the parents in the research; where mothers share more; it was observed that fathers looked more distant towards Sharenting. In addition, only 1.2% of mothers who share their children on social media think that it may be a criminal element.
Are we Sharenting for show?
More than one reason lies in the basis of sharenting, according to the answers given by the parents. According to the parents, the main reason for Sharenting is; your families keeping in touch with relatives and close circle is the requirement. Other reasons are social participation, showing off, boasting, envy, easy access to technology and giving a good family image to the outside.
The most popular Sharenting of our country: The mother sharing her daughter’s first menstrual day
In our country, a post by actress Ceyda Düvenci at the beginning of 2021 caused many discussions. Düvenci shared her daughter’s first menstrual day on Instagram and was called by some.violates the privacy of his underage daughter’s private life” He was fired for the reason. There were some who argued the opposite. Before we get into this discussion; Let us remind you that this subject is a very good example of Sharenting. Because in the middle an underage child there is both this child’s image and this shared information about the child’s private life there is. If she wants, this young girl can sue her mother and easily win her case due to precedent cases.
No need for child to sue for sharenting
A father in Istanbul in 2017; constantly on social media of his divorced wife sharing pictures of their children He sued his wife and won the case. While the court forbade the mother to share photos of her children; He also asked to delete existing shares. In addition, the custody of the three children whose custody was given to the mother was given to the father.
Due to the age of the child, a lawsuit can be filed even after years.
In 2016, an Austrian woman stated that when she was a child, her family shared and continues to share many photos of her on Facebook; these photos most of them are private and complained to the court because he was uncomfortable with this situation. The court found the woman right and decided to remove the posts.
Sharenting is not just for parents
In the Netherlands, we have an elderly aunt; He must have loved his grandchildren so much that he opened a social media account and shared his grandchildren from these accounts. The children and grandchildren of our aunt, who are disturbed by this situation; With the court decision, all these posts were removed and it was related to our aunt’s grandchildren. make new posts banned. Of course, we do not know how long our aunt complies with this ban.
Children don’t have to wait 18 years to file a lawsuit
In Italy in 2018; 16 year old by her son to the mother who shared her son’s photos on social media a lawsuit was filed and the mother was punished by the court’s right to the son who brought the case. As punishment, it was also stated that as in other cases, new sanctions would be imposed along with the removal of posts, not making new posts, and fines in case of doing so. In lawsuits about parents’ social media posts of children Until now, courts have seen children justified and made decisions in the interests of children. has given.
What can we do?
Everything starts with us. First of all, we as parents. our children from social media and social media posts we must protect. Of course, not everything is resolved with us. We can also use our right to report and complain for other children. Assoc. Dr. Veysi Ceri; For parents who make money from images of children on Instagram and Youtube: “Ha you made your child beg on the street, you did it, it doesn’t matter” I mean, such abuses Notification to the Ministry of Family and Social Policies It also reminds us that we can do it.
Also by people who are conscious about Sharenting around the world. StopSharenting A movement called With this move, more conscious parents and a safer society are aimed. You can follow the StopSharenting movement and support it. A commercial film about StopSharenting, published by UNICEF in Norway, attracted a lot of attention. In fact, even this ad alone explains a lot.
We hope you will think twice when sharing a post on your social media accounts, of course, if you don’t want your child’s life to turn into the Truman Show…
*Special Thanks; Dr. Sule BAŞTEMUR, Assoc. Dr. Veysi ÇERİ, Assoc. Dr. Selim GUNUC, Müjgan HALIS, Tuba YILDIZ
**Thanks for your contribution Professor Sonia LIVINGSTONE