Should I send this picture or not? “Old-school” thinking to help you decide

No postTo share or not to share… that is the question (and you may only take a couple seconds to decide)!

In our world today, you can share an image with someone else with just a few finger taps on a screen. There are more and more stories each and every day about images that are sent/posted that have hurt individuals, companies, families, etc… and many of them in a life-altering and devastating fashion. The posting or sharing of inappropriate images is a very real concern in the digital world.

When working with students, parents, and educators in developing effective strategies to stay safe and positive in the online world, I often find that we grow our understanding when we think about things from a different lens or perspective.  One example of this that truly resonated with me came from a police liaison officer that I worked with as a Vice-Principal in our district.  He spoke to a group of parents at one of our PAC meetings and shared just how unlikely it was “back in the day” for someone to send another person an inappropriate picture. He shared that thinking “old-school” is a great way to help us decide whether or not to send an image to somebody else. He went on to describe just how much time and effort it would take to capture and send a picture or yourself to someone else (not to mention the potentially embarrassing steps that are involved in the process).

Here’s how he described it:

  • You decide you’re going to send someone an inappropriate photo
  • You then get your camera to take the photo
  • Once you take the picture, you take your camera to the store to get the film developed (which means others could potentially see your inappropriate photo)
  • You pick up and pay for your photo
  • You put the photo in an envelope, stamp it, and address it to someone specific
  • You put that envelope in the mail…

…you can see that this process could take days, if not weeks, and would involve many steps along the way that would make you pause and think, “is this really a good idea?”

While this example certainly got some laughs in the room, it really resonated with all of us as a great way for us to frame our thinking (and help us educate our children) when it comes to sending digital photos to someone else.  So if you’re every unsure on whether or not to push send… just think “old-school”.

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