2023-12-28 03:30:00
Mariángeles Castro Sánchez*
Family vacations are a time to make memories. As moms and dads, we usually share snippets of notable scenes on our social networks, fired up by the moments we experienced and eager to eternalize them. Without suspecting that this activity, which includes posts that are specified in terms of role, It is called sharenting and consists of an interpretation of one’s own parental exercise through the publication of information and photographs of our children.
Here the desire to consolidate a space where we can relive memorable moments, or to create a repository that transcends us and is recovered by future generations, pushes us towards areas of dangerous gray. Although it is a common and seemingly harmless habit, it demands our attention. Because, although much has been written about the subject, it is evident that it has not yet become popular enough to settle into the collective consciousness.
In all cases, sharenting is a questionable practice, which deserves personal and social reflection, as well as precise action by mothers and fathers. Because we continue making public images of our children without thinking about the possible consequences of our behavior, present and future. Derivations that we are not able to even imagine, so a prudent option would be to refrain from circulating any type of data that involves them.
The approach by design is the new thing in defending children’s rights in digital environments. These are areas configured to be inhabited and operated by boys and girls, so that they can take advantage of the opportunities that digital life offers them. For Jose Van Dijck, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam, platforms are not only mediators, but they shape the performance of the social acts that take place on them. At the same time that they facilitate them, they are setting them, predefining them. Hence the importance of contributing to the construction of good, respectful and protective molds.
The truth is that, as adults, Sharing our own information online is a decision that we make – with more or less knowledge and freedom – whose effects fall on ourselves. Instead, by exposing our ties in contexts beyond our control, The question remains as to how far our digital persona extends and that of our children begins. The complexity of the situation calls for always being cautious.
Additionally, the principle of progressivity is an unavoidable reference. As children grow, they acquire autonomy and expand their capacity to participate in matters that directly affect them. Therefore, they should be consulted before starring in a family story on Instagram, for example. And this query is the perfect starting point for a conversation about what it means to publish information online and what the benefits of relational self-representation are in front of unknown audiences. Both we and they have to know that any post is public and that it creates a digital footprint that represents a loss of privacy.
Above all, the privacy of girls and boys must be protected. And it must be understood as something relevant and delicate, connected to access to oneself, one’s own inner world and personal dignity.
By being aware of this, we can decide what risks to take, as well as what questions to ask and permissions to ask for before disclosing certain data. Especially at this time of year, when family vacations begin and posts multiply.
* Teacher and researcher, director of studies at the Institute of Family Sciences of the Austral University.
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