Before You Post Your Child’s Picture

Keep pictures of your child to people you know, and once they’re old enough to have a view, ask them first.

A two-minute read, three things to try, for children under 9.

Where to start

Share pictures of your child with people you know, not publicly.
Leave out their uniform, their school’s name and your front door.
Once they are old enough to have a view, ask them before you post.
Some parents now worry about AI tools that can alter ordinary photos. The advice from the National Crime Agency and the Internet Watch Foundation is to keep pictures of children to people you know and to use privacy settings, not to stop sharing altogether. If a picture of your child has been altered or misused, don’t go looking for it, don’t pass it on, and don’t delete anything until you have had advice. If it has been made sexual, never view, copy, print, share, store or save it; a screenshot is a copy. Report it to the police. CEOP (the police’s online child protection command). Report at https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/. If it is on a website, you can also report it to have it taken down. Internet Watch Foundation. Report at https://www.iwf.org.uk/en/uk-report/.

The rest of the tip, and why it works, is in the library.

Sources

NSPCC, How to protect your children’s back-to-school photos (2025); CEOP, Sharing pictures and videos of your child online; Internet Watch Foundation and National Crime Agency, advice for parents on manipulated images (2026)

It goes with

Your Child’s Online World. For parents who have seen something on their child’s phone that they can’t unsee.
What Screen Time Actually Is. For parents who feel they have lost the argument about screens.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full.

Free on this subject

Social media. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.
Online safety. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.

The rest of the library

The Parent Book is a library written by therapists: chapters on the situations parents bring to our therapy rooms most often, quick tips for tonight, things to do together, and every sheet to print. One subscription opens all of it, from the day you join.

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If you need help right now

If you or your child is in immediate danger: 999 · Go to your nearest A&E · 24/7.
If either you or your child is in a mental health crisis: NHS 111 · England, Scotland and Wales: call 111 and choose the mental-health option. Northern Ireland: call Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 · 24/7.
If your child is under 19 and needs to talk to someone themselves: Childline · 0800 1111 · 24/7 · www.childline.org.uk.
If you are worried that a child is being harmed or is at risk: NSPCC Helpline · 0808 800 5000 · Mon-Fri 10am-4pm by phone; email 11am-4pm, seven days a week. An email sent when the service is closed is not received. · email help@nspcc.org.uk · www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/our-services/nspcc-helpline · If the NSPCC service is closed and the concern cannot wait, call the police on 101. You can also contact the child’s local out-of-hours children’s social care, social work or social services team. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
If you would prefer to text rather than speak: Shout · Text SHOUT to 85258 · 24/7 · giveusashout.org.
If you or someone you are worried about needs someone to talk to: Samaritans · 116 123 · 24/7 · www.samaritans.org.

If you need help right now

Published by Kensington Square Therapy. Company No. 16707111. Written by therapists registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). This page is not therapy, and not a substitute for professional support. The full library is at theparentbook.com.