The following survey http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39560255/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/?GT1=43001 caused me to feel both surprised and alarmed. I am impressed that we seem to dedicate a lot of time to educating our children about the dangers of social networking. We tell them not to post any pictures, not to disclose personal data, and not to write anything that will embarrass or damage their reputations them later on. Yet, in the meantime according to this survey it is we who are responsible for creating their “digital footprint” from birth and sometimes even before that. We are the ones who post pictures which may embarrass them when they are older. I invite you to think about this not from a safety perspective but from a relationship perspective. When we post pictures of our little kids we, in a way, don’t respect their privacy, as we did not have their permission to do so.

As parents we want to be mindful of what we post online not only for safety reasons but we also want to think about our children 20 or 30 years in the future and to make sure that any pictures or comments we post will not damage or embarrass their future possibilities.