17/12/2024
This week will see many proud parents, siblings & grandparents visiting local schools to watch their relatives performing in a Nativity play or similar.
So proud, many will want to capture the children on video or photographs. Despite the warning by the school staff not to do this. many will ignore this and record anyway. After all, what harm can it do?
IT CAN DO A GREAT DEAL OF HARM!!!
How? In every school there are children that are classed as Looked After Children. (LAC). These are kids that are in the system for some reason. They might be in foster care, reside in a children's home etc. There are numerous reasons why children are "in the system". Children's Services place such children in care, many miles away from where they lived originally. This is so the parents can't find them.
What's that got to do with my video/photo I've put on social media? A great deal! Software exists that can take a photo of a young child & use AI to work out what they look like now. They then use that image to search for similar images online. This part of the process is quite simple to do. They find several images that are similar. One is a photo you posted to social media. This particular child is in a group of kids, along with your child / grand child. A quick bit of research on your profile will tell the parent where you live. There's likely to be other photos of your child in school uniform. Now, not only does that parent have the town where you live, they also know which school their child goes to. The repercussions for that LAC child could be deadly! All because you thought it was OK to post an "innocent" photo of the Christmas play at school!
The consequences for you can be dire too! If a child is removed forcibly from the parents, it's usually as a result of a court order. That court order will include clauses preventing the location of that child being given to the parents. You've just broken that court order. You should at least expect a visit to the courts to explain yourself! You will more than likely receive a criminal conviction. If your job involves holding a DBS check, your employer will be informed and your position will be terminated. Children's Services will now be on your case as you've put a child at risk. This could mean YOUR children are now on the "At Risk" register!
At the other end of the spectrum, if the child is harmed as a result of your actions, not only will you be in court as above, you'll be summoned to the Coroners court explaining why you posted images of a LAC online, despite being warned not to. Not easy questions to answer, but you'll get asked them anyway. The foster parents of that child will be present. You'll have to look them in the face whilst you're giving evidence. It's also possible that you'll receive a custodial sentence, ESPECIALLY if your in a job that involves working with children, vulnerable people etc as you should have known much better! Children's Services will be involved as above.
As a professional photographer, I find out before taking any PR photos with children in them as to whether there's a LAC child(ren) present. If there are, I either don't get them in shot, or if it's unavoidable, I blur the faces so they're completely un-recognisable!
Remember, you need the SPECIFIC WRITTEN CONSENT of anyone who's face is recognisable, or consent from their parent or guardian to publish an image anywhere, whether it be in a book, magazine, social media, video etc. This applies even if the child is not a LAC child!
There's a very good reason why school staff tell you not to video or photograph performances. It's NOT to sell you photos, IT'S TO PROTECT VULNERABLE CHILDREN. It also protects you from jail, prosecution, being labelled by other people etc.
DON'T RECORD OR PHOTOGRAPH CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS. THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THEM AND YOU, CAN BE DIRE!
