Should Parents Show Their Kids' Faces on Social Media?
Parenting
Audio By Carbonatix
11:30 AM on Friday, June 12
By Amanda Idleman, Parenting
Over time, parents have become increasingly aware of the risks to our children from social media use. While many of us enjoy sharing our lives with others online, others are concerned about the risk of sharing our children's likenesses online, as our personal information is often shared.
As believers, we should approach this issue not only through practical concerns but also by leaning on biblical wisdom, stewardship, and love for our children. The Bible does not give us explicit guidelines for using social media, but it does provide some principles that can help us, as parents, prayerfully determine how we feel most comfortable using it and how much we should share about our kids' lives online.
What Is “Sharenting” and Why Is it Becoming a Concern?
“Sharenting” is the practice of parents sharing information and images of their children online. Social media has made documenting childhood more public than ever before! For many parents, Facebook was invented just as we entered college. From that point on, it became a natural part of our world to share our daily lives with our online community.
Over time, our distant family and friends became our friends online, and sharing adorable photos of our new babies, growing toddlers, and everything in between became a way to stay connected. Additionally, many parents also celebrate milestones to connect with other parents in the community, share as bloggers/influencers, or as a part of their ministry.
Since the invention of Facebook, social media has exploded and grown in mind-blowing ways. Now we are sharing not just with a small group of friends or family, but also with thousands of strangers across platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more! This raises additional concerns about privacy, your family's digital footprint, your child's consent to share their life publicly, and online safety.
Proverbs 22:3 offers this insight: “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty." Pausing to consider how social media has changed and the best practices for sharing is so important. As parents, there is so much to keep up with in our very digital world, and social media is a key consideration as we seek to guard our homes from risk.
What Biblical Principles Apply to Social Media Usage?
Our kids are a gift from God! The primary job we have as parents is to steward and protect our kids well. Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.” As we share our kids' lives with others, we have to keep our families' best interests in mind and find the best way to celebrate them with our community while also considering their privacy and safety.
Ephesians 5:15 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.”
We must seek God as we decide how to use technology in our homes. It’s not a small undertaking to manage all the devices, platforms, apps, communications, and expectations that exist. Parenting in the digital world is much more layered. Parents are seeking to protect our kids in real life, and we also have to be vigilant about protecting them online! We must prayerfully make these decisions, as there is no definitive roadmap for handling technology.
Potential Benefits of Sharing Children’s Photos Online
There is joy in being able to quickly and conveniently share some of our sweetest moments with our friends and family. Posting is one way to commemorate and celebrate milestones. When we are facing struggles, social media can be a place we can reach out for support and encouragement.
Our social media pages are a place we can minister to others as we honestly and freely share our family's struggles and passions. It can be a platform to advocate for or raise awareness of important causes close to our hearts. Additionally, our feed preserves memories in a modern format that we can enjoy as our kids age.
Photo Credit: ©Dole/Unsplash
Questions to Consider When Sharing Online:
Who will see this post?
What positive purpose does this serve?
Is this encouraging others in a meaningful way?
Will sharing help celebrate and commemorate this moment for my child and family?
Potential Risks Christians Should Consider When Sharing Online
When we post, we are creating a permanent digital footprint for our child, and our kids cannot fully understand or consent to their online presence. The photos and stories we are sharing may remain online indefinitely. This is a huge responsibility for us to navigate as parents. We don’t know what might seem cute now may feel embarrassing later.
There are privacy and safety concerns we must consider when using social media. Oversharing personal details about our lives can pose risks to our kids. When we share locations, school information, and routine sharing, strangers know more about our children than we may feel comfortable with in the offline world. Being wise about the details we share can protect our kids from unforeseen threats.
When we turn our children into content, we are tempted to measure family life through likes, views, and engagement. Our kids are not supposed to be a means of building influence. Our job is to guard their hearts, lead them towards Jesus, and to treasure them for the gift they are, not for the photo op they provide.
How Can Christian Parents Make Wise Social Media Decisions?
First and foremost, we constantly pray for wisdom. The way we engage social media can and often must change as our family life evolves. Sharing, when our kids are toddlers, may feel really different than publicly sharing something “funny” our teenager did. Asking God to guide us as we lead our families in a culture that is obsessed with social media is essential.
We have to consider our child’s future perspective. Some helpful questions to consider before posting include: Would my child be comfortable with this later? Does this respect their dignity? Would I appreciate this being shared about me?
Establish family boundaries for social media. Some safeguards you could use include changing your account's privacy settings and only posting with friends, not publicly. Make sure you don’t post embarrassing photos, and limit sharing sensitive details of your kids' lives. Avoid sharing you childs location.
Additionally, since your own kids can use their own social media accounts, you must teach them to use the platform responsibly. Use your posting habits as a model. Teach them about online privacy and talk about how to use wisdom on the internet.
There Is No One Perfect Way to Handle Social Media
We each have different callings, comfort levels in what we feel is okay to share, and habits in our homes. Faithful Christians often choose to share family photos regularly. If they are prayerfully and intentionally using these platforms, there is nothing wrong with choosing to share your family life in some capacity online. Additionally, if you have friends who adamantly do not want their kids' likeness to appear online, you must respect their wishes.
Romans 14:4 says, "Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord can make them stand."
Respecting each family's boundaries around social media is one way to love your neighbor well. It’s not our place to judge; we are there to offer encouragement and love to others in our faith communities.
The question is not simply whether parents should post their children’s faces online, but whether we are sharing online with wisdom, love, and godly stewardship. More than anything, we must prioritize our children's dignity, safety, and future well-being above social media engagement. And when we post online, remember this is a public space, so we should always share in a way that reflects biblical values. God can guide us as parents in this very new world we live in. He is faithful to gently lead us by his Spirit.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Oscar Wong
Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is encouraging others to live joyfully. She writes devotions for Your Nightly Prayer, Crosswalk Couples Devotional, Your Daily Prayer, and more. She has work published with Her View from Home, on the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com, Biblestudytools.com, and Christianity.com. She has most recently published a devotional, Comfort: A 30 Day Devotional Exploring God's Heart of Love for Mommas, alongside her husband’s companion devotional, Shepherd. You can find out more about Amanda on her Facebook Page or follow her on Instagram.
