The course begins and the debate on the publication of images of their children on social networks by educational centers is once again in the mouths of families. What do parents think? Alba D. is a mother who prefers to remain anonymous because she does not want her daughter to recognize her at the school in Vilafranca del Penedès (Barcelona) where she is. When the girl was three years old, she was asked by the institution to sign an authorization where a so-called “social” consent was given for photos of the minor to be published on these platforms. Both parents refused. They were pressured by staff at the center to change their minds and were told that if they did not, their daughter would be taken away from her. After a while, they reached an agreement with the teacher in charge of running the social networks: if they signed the authorization, they would only publish the images on the internal platform of the school. “Children do not have to suffer or feel marginalized by this. I believe that the internal network should be separated from the center of the external (networks, channels…) and that tomorrow the children will not be affected by seeing themselves on the internet”, Alba maintains.
Sonia Peris Pina, financial manager, has three children: Eric, seven years old; and Odette and Ethan, three of them, who study at the Lluís Vives de Sants school in Barcelona. In P4, in Children, the family refused to mark the box for transfer of images of her son Eric, including the center’s website, which is publicly accessible. The director explained to Peris that they did not know how to manage the situation and that “when a group photo was taken, they would send the boy to the bathroom.” Peris, who has reported his case to the Data Protection Agency of Catalonia and the Educational Inspection, sends a forceful message to other parents: “Almost without realizing it we are teaching our children, minors, that there is no problem sharing everything publicly”.
The economist Mireia Torres would also like to find a solution to the situation that affects her three-year-old son. Her school has not given her any options: “Either I mark a YES to the total transfer of the photographs or I am left with no memories.” “And I doubt it, because we don’t know the impact of posting images on social media and I want my son to be happy at school, not just for him to look like it in the posts on these platforms,” this mother shares. Torres is also a spokesperson for the Platform in defense of the digital rights of minors (Drets Digitals Menors) made up of concerned families who ask for changes in educational centers. The purpose of the group is to make the educational community aware of the need to preserve the privacy of minors.
Need for professional training
The Organic Law 8/2021, of June 4, on the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents against violence, infers in the regulation of actions by Public Administrations to guarantee the safe and responsible use of the Internet by educators who work with minors. The Spanish Data Protection Agency published a Guide for Educational Centers which refers to the correct use of your data. “Consent regarding minors under 13 years of age must be given prior to recording images, although there is an exception to the obligation of express consent, in cases in which the audiovisual material produced by educational centers is exclusively for educational purposes,” he explains. Anna Emma Labanca, Lawyer and specialist in corporate legal services and professional image in social networks.
For the lawyer, educational centers should not marginalize the child in response to the fundamental rights of minors: “If there is no consent, the teaching staff should distort or cross out the face of minors and send their parents the material without modifications”.
David Rial, Primary teacher and head of studies at the school Saint Pius X of Ourense, clarifies that it is not an easy task to integrate the child in these circumstances. However, he argues that in his case it was a data protection company that advised them not to store or retouch images of the child if the family did not sign consent to their publication. “Some father has commented that he does not want photographs of his children to be published on social networks, but it is not a sufficient number to make changes. In general, they tell us that they love to see their children in videos”, affirms the expert. “Yes, we will try to improve that the center separates the authorization for the educational institution from those required by the entities that organize certain complementary activities,” Rial establishes.
On the other hand, SV, a secondary school teacher (who chooses not to reveal her identity to avoid possible obstacles that could arise at the work level), emphasizes that children are not being protected. “As professionals we make talks so that they are careful with social networks. But when a father does not sign the authorization for transfer of images of his children, he separates the student from the group, ”she agrees. The teacher requests that educational centers, together with the Government, bet on taking images where the minor is not recognized.
The problem of marginalizing the child from the group
In the Early Childhood Education stage, a sense of group and belonging to their peers is created in the child. “If the child is removed, it can come to look less valid or guilty and it will affect her self-concept. Parents always have to explain the reason for not appearing in a photo or video, “he reports. daniel santiago lovespsychologist and director of Alzenit. The expert clarifies that, in the case of not censoring the face or putting an emoticon, the game could be used, without being so obvious.
“It is one thing to make an exhibition at a family level, such as the website of a center, and another to overexpose it on social networks, where everyone has access to the images. When older, the child may not feel reflected with these images and even episodes of anxiety may occur”, explains Santiago.
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