What's the law on taking photos of my own children?

[BTB 500]

I see a whole generation of people who will never experience the humiliation caused by their parents showing pictures of them as children splashing around in paddling pools/nappies etc... in a deliberate attempt to embarrass them in front of a prospective fiance.

Life's so unfair!

Same with retirement presentations at work. HR now have to destroy records after 7(?) years, so no embarrassing interview pictures / quotes / comments any more.

 

[camerafodder]

Same with retirement presentations at work. HR now have to destroy records after 7(?) years, so no embarrassing interview pictures / quotes / comments any more.

Good grief, it's quite sad really isn't it?

 

[Sp!ke]

At my sons school each parent is asked to sign a waiver allowing their child to be photographed on school premises.

No parent has ever refused to sign which means parents and teachers are all free to video or take photos at school events.

And if a parent did refuse, they would need to justify their stance

Seems quite simple to me.

 

[corned]

I have been through all this (not in any sense of transgression I hasten to add).

My son used to swim at the local club, and as I was spending a lot of time at the leisure centre (council run) I decided to help out on poolside.

Not as easy an undertaking as you might imagine!

I had to register for ASA, CRB and I think the local council, so I was thoroughly checked out before I could (effectively) take a couple of steps nearer to the kids in the pool. As a parent on the viewing balcony, I needed no qualifications. Then, as a poolside helper, I suddenly had to go through all sorts of checks, registrations, and goodness-knows-what.

Photography was a particularly sensitive subject: almost a taboo. Crazy! At lessons, if anyone took a mobile phone out of their pocket, someone would turn up to 'have a word'. At all the galas, the first PA announcement was that no one was to take any pictures, by any means, and that they would be watching out for anyone flouting this rule.

The paranoia surrounding our kids now is unbearable. The hoops I had to jump through make you question why anyone would bother any more. No wonder children's activities are becoming scarcer and scarcer.

God help anyone these days if they have family photos of their own kids (especially if in a semi-clothed situation) on their computer...

 

[corned]

At my sons school each parent is asked to sign a waiver allowing their child to be photographed on school premises.

No parent has ever refused to sign which means parents and teachers are all free to video or take photos at school events.

And if a parent did refuse, they would need to justify their stance

Seems quite simple to me.

Round here, it's almost completely the other way round. If you want to take photos of your own kids, you have to justify your stance.

 

[finisterre]

The conversation about cyberbullying seems to have taken a turn for the better, it looks like I was wrong. The poster middlemarch is a head teacher and she is always pretty clued up on the legal side child protection.

See this thread.
Illegal use of camera! - Opinion - TES Connect

 

[MOCAŠ]

With regard to the law on this, there is a specific charge that is often brought against people who are found to be in possession of questionable material - something like "making indecent images", though I daren't Google that to check the details.

What actually constitutes an indecent image can be open to fairly wide interpretation, so you can find yourself in court having to defend any charge brought, which I'd imagine is not a pleasant experience.

 

[flango]

Round here, it's almost completely the other way round. If you want to take photos of your own kids, you have to justify your stance.

Thats also the guidelines for the policy, where consultation does take place, one NO or one objection means no one can photograph. This of course is only applicable to local authority establishments and could be different in private facilities i.e private school, private gym etc..

 

[flango]

With regard to the law on this, there is a specific charge that is often brought against people who are found to be in possession of questionable material - something like "making indecent images", though I daren't Google that to check the details.

What actually constitutes an indecent image can be open to fairly wide interpretation, so you can find yourself in court having to defend any charge brought, which I'd imagine is not a pleasant experience.

I'll save you the embarassment of the Google search any UK Legislation can be found at this LINK which is safe but specific to the topic in question.

 

[orientdude]

Unfortunately, we are influenced and modeled on our state-side cousin's values (which is ridiculous!), social paranoia, which in turn, losing the grasp of reality and substituted by mortal fear of the environment we live in.

I fear the British moral ideas is lost and constantly substituted by US life-model values.

 

[Satch]

I became embroiled in a "photographing children" fiasco late last year when at an event I was involved with, a professional photographer was taking pics (with consent) of people who were participating in the rather obvious hope of selling on his images to those who wanted a memento.

Plod (in the shape of a hideously fat female PCSO who could barely waddle and a very bored PC) turned up following "complaints" about children being photographed, which was interesting because there were no children participating, only spectating with parents.

Nor would they tell us who had complained, about what precisely nor when this had happened. Now the snapper got very, very angry about this and started telling us how Police had been turning up at public events in the area unbidden and were quite clearly on a mission to show, er, something.

You may recall not that long ago Tourists and Photographers in London were being prevented from taking photographs of public buildings and in some cases arrested on spurious grounds. This was just another manifestation of the paranoia state that had been created and now at least some common sense has broken out

Metropolitan Police Service - About the Met - Photography advice


However the same has not yet happened for the "photographing children" moral panic

 

[jonnyboy]

The conversation about cyberbullying seems to have taken a turn for the better, it looks like I was wrong. The poster middlemarch is a head teacher and she is always pretty clued up on the legal side child protection.

See this thread.
Illegal use of camera! - Opinion - TES Connect

Just read that thread.
What a sad, sad situation. No wonder decent teachers are demotivated.

 

[tpwuk]

The kids have all the power in schools these days!

 

[renault12ts]

Young policemen can get it wrong too. In a famous case, local to me, a church minister observed and photographed two young teenagers stealing lead from the roof of his church.

When the police came, the minister produced the evidential photographs...the young copper advised him that he had no right taking photos of children.
This was escalated, but in the end it was the young copper who was reprimanded.