Social Media Legal Consultant

Bcom LLB (UP)

Email: Lntwampe@gmail.com

Cell: 076 776 3006

HASHTAG KEEP KIDS SAFE - BACK TO SCHOOL CYBERSAFETY TIPS

The 15th of January 2020 marks the first day of school for most children in South Africa. Social Media
platforms will be flooded with back to school images as many parents will be sharing their
experience with their children. Here are a few cautionary tips to help parents who will be
participating in this trend:
1. Do not post any personal information of the child such as their full names, identity number,
name of the school, name of the teacher, grade, etc.

2. Make sure you blur out or hide the school badge on their school uniform or any reference to
the school on your social media post.

3. Disable your geo-tagging and location when taking a photo with your smartphone if you plan
to post the photos online.

4. Be careful of your surroundings when taking your photos for example, a photo in front of
your home or child’s school could reveal the physical address.

5. Do not tag any family members or close friends as strangers may use that information to
gain trust with your child and convince them that they are not strangers as a result of the
detailed information that they find on your social media platforms.

6. Avoid posting anything that shows the vulnerability of the child for example “My child is
such a loner”, strangers may use this information to lure your child into dangerous
situations.

7. Check your privacy settings to specify with whom you want to share your posts with. Sharing
photos with a handful of friends and family is one thing differs from sharing with the public.
A wide audience as defined by researched is more than 200 contacts.

8. Everyone has their own positions on sharing their children’ faces on social media therefore
respect other people’s kids by ensuring that the photos you post do not include faces of
other children whose parents have not consented to the sharing of their children’s faces.

9. Confront people who post photos of your child without your permission including your
child’s school.

10. Ensure that you are familiar with the school’s Code of Conduct, Information and System
Policy and/or Social Media Policy. This is to ensure that the school has adequate filtering
software to block social media platforms and inappropriate content, and to ensure that
there are measures in place to protect the learners’ identity and personal information,
amongst other things.