The topic of showing our child 'stars' on the web-site has been raised by several of our members. We have recently produced 'Oliver!' and obviously have some great pictures of the youngsters enjoying themselves, but, should we put these pictures onto our web-site (with parental permission, of course)??

Comments please??

Hi,

I run a photograph web site for Am Dram and shows...

The rules I go by is that if they are kids on stage then ALL photographs are vetted by a member of the committee BEFORE I leave that night (I use a Digital Camera so it's easy to do this).

If anyone wanted to use a photograph of any child for any illegal use then they have millions of other options to do this.... Magazines, catalogues for example...

It's more likely that a child will receive a "crank phone call" than their image be "changed".

If a photograph looks ok then I can't see a problem with it.

There's some on my website.

http://www.amadrama.co.uk/photos/

As long it's with permission I can't see a problem with photgraphs on the web of shows with kids. I'm a ex-copper.

The youth group I work for has some of their cast members pictures on their site, with the parents permission of course. and everyone seems happy.

This group is more aware than most of protecting children as Sarah Payne was a member. However even given this tragedy some common sense has to prevail.

I'm sure the web guys will confirm this - but I'm sure you can protect your photos with some script to prevent people from right clicking them?

Yes you can, I don't know how but I have seen sites where it has been done.

There is code.... But it can be got round very easily..
In the new browsers you can still save the file.
There's no way to protect images on the web.

All good paint packages can "Grab" the screen as a new image.

All you can do is make sure the images aren't "Risky" as in the positioning of the child.

This would lend any images to be "edited" in disgusting ways...

I've got photos of my daughter on the web... It's not a problem.

If any pervert wants to edit a picture there's a million other places they can get photos from.

You can also still print the whole page off and rescan the picture in. I guess we just have to be careful

I am currently doing a website for a school and they do want pictures of the children but they should always be in groups and I have been asked not to attach names to the pictures.

Just to say ..........."Here is a group of children painting" etc...

I'd heard that many schools were banning parents from using camcorders at school shows that their kids were performing in on the basis that they didn't have the permission of every other parent with a child in the show and that it was open to abuse.

I heard that too, I think it is very sad what the world is coming to.

I agree with you guys that the concern over images of children on the web is overstated. One concern worth mentioning is that children might be identifiable from the photos ie. they could be used to select kids for "grooming". I'm not convinced this is a pressing issue myself however I did check it out and these are the CPA's best practice guidelines:
Children in photos should not be identified,
Head shots from which children are identifiable should not be used,
Group photos or photos photos taken at a distance in which children are not identifiable due to distance or movement are OK.
A bit of objectivity is probably required in assesing photos against this criterion since the fact that you personaly can recognize someone you've known for five years from a fuzzy blob with two dots for a nose does not mean that they are identifiable to strangers.
(Hi Geoff, its Kate Warrender btw)

Don't know about anyone else, but I didn't say the concern was overstated. I keep a family album in a password protected web site!!