This isn’t what I was going to write about for this post but I was curious to see how others feel about this…

It’s that time of year again, the school Christmas concert. I have been taking my children to this school for over seven years and there has never been a problem with parents and relatives taking video or photographs. Suddenly this year we were told, the week before, that we couldn’t.

Me being the questioning type looked into articles on the internet and then, armed with information, went to see the headteacher. He was reasonable and explained that a few parents had objected and so he had taken the decision to ban cameras. I pointed out that we are a democracy and the majority not the minority should have precedence. Also, the Data Protection Act specifically states that parents/relatives taking photos for the family album is not included. See this report for the official wording (it’s a .pdf).  The upshot was that he has reconsidered and is rescinding the ban.

Fair enough, I’m pleased and so is my child who was disappointed that she might not have photos of her last concert at the school. Other parents I have spoken to are also glad they will be able to take photos. However, one question is - am I right in expecting those few parents to have to make the decision whether to a) allow for the possibility that their child might be inadvertently photographed by another parent or b) remove their child from the concert? Bear in mind that this concert will only be attended by parents, relatives and others affiliated with the school. It is not open to the general public.

Are we living in fear about what ‘might’ happen to us, our children through the improvements in technology? Is it the proliferation of sites like YouTube or Flickr that are making people have such a negative perspective? Are those few parents right to be afraid or are we others being too complacent?

In my view, the people that do want to use images of children for nefarious deeds are going to get them whatever we do through channels most of us wouldn’t dream of. Is it really overkill to lose those precious photos or videos from our children’s lives just because we fear that a minority might get hold of them?