'Sharenting' is dangerous and schools shouldn't encourage it

There might be progress across the country on data privacy, with some even questioning what kind of data private companies are collecting on our children. However, less scrutiny is applied when it comes to what parents willingly share about their children and where the encouragement comes from.

It is discouraging that, for the sake of raising money, institutions like the University of Minnesota are encouraging parents to dress their children up in school gear for a selfie on social media apps. What does it say about a public university that encourages sharenting and its inevitable repercussions?

In our digital world the majority of children will decorate their parents' social media pages from an early age. Some before their birth. Already in 2010 more than 90% of 2-year-olds and 80% of babies had a digital presence. Our connection to social media — or addiction, more like it — has only increased.

No need to look high and low to find parents who happily share not only pictures of their children, but also quite a lot of their personal information. The danger is that these parents don't know where this information will end up or how it might affect their children's lives.

We have all seen the bloggers who happily make money off their children. Some think that this use of children is horrible, others may only wish to do the same and most probably don't see the issue.

Our social media world doesn't stop with just our followers. Not everyone has their social media profiles on a private setting, and even those who do might have people on Facebook or Instagram they don't know or haven't spoken with for years. These, and even our closest friends and family, can share pictures and information about children still further.

It is important not only to think about how this sharenting may affect a child in the future, but also about where these pictures and information might end up. For some, the pictures will end up on child pornography sites; others will become victims of identity fraud because all of the shared information will be stored until the child comes of age for identity fraud.

Though it's great to see that the "Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act" has been introduced, the bill unfortunately only focuses on consumer privacy. We're completely forgetting the damage parents can do, especially given free reins. Parents often know best, but not always, especially when we're not talking enough about sharenting and what its repercussions can be.

How many lawsuits by children against parents must we see to understand that new laws are required?

It is disturbing to see a giant like the University of Minnesota encourage such behavior for monetary benefit. I expected better. As we're nearing a new school year, I hope that the U and other higher education institutions will think twice before nudging parents into such reckless behavior.