Pediatricians recommend leaving children out of social media

Millions of parents post pictures and updates about their children on social media, but new research presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2016 National Conference & Exhibition warns parents about the hidden dangers of updating your Facebook and Twitter feeds about what your child is doing.

Children have become the center piece of a huge majority of parents' online identities. Some 92 percent of 2-year-olds have an online presence, and roughly 33 percent make an appearance on mom or dad's social media in their first day of life,

"The amount of information placed in the digital universe about our children in just a few short years is staggering," said Bahareh Keith, DO, MHSc, director of the pediatric global health track and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine. "Parents often consider how to best protect children while the child is using the internet. However, parents—including myself, initially—don't always consider how their own use of social media may affect their children's well-being."

Without realizing it, parents could put their child at risk of someone stealing photos to be shared with unknown and even dangerous people.

Pediatricians are urging parents to become more aware of what they post to protect their children's online identity. Some recommendations pediatrics have given to parents is to utilize the privacy setting on various websites, give the child some control over what they post online and only anonymously post about behavioral struggles.

"Even more likely, the child might one day want to have some privacy and control over his or her digital identity," said law professor Stacey Steinberg, JD. "Untangling the parent's right to share his or her own story and the child's right to enter adulthood free to create his or her own digital footprint is a daunting task."