It may seem harmless to snap a few pics of your toddler struggling with the new concept of depositing their waste into a specific container. It may seem equally inconsequential to upload them to Facebook for your friends, who have also lost all sense of human decency, to coo about. It’s not. Time turns toddlers into teens. Angry, angry teens.
An Austrian girl is suing her parents for posting photos of her getting her diaper changed and sitting on the potty without her permission, something she claims they’ve been doing since 2009. The unnamed complainant says that they’ve shared over 500 photos of her in that time. Austrian paper The Local reports she was driven to sue after her mom and dad refused to take the pictures down upon her request:
“They knew no shame and no limit – and didn’t care whether it was a picture of me sitting on the toilet or lying naked in my cot – every stage was photographed and then made public,” the 18-year-old said. The photos were shared on Facebook with her parents’ 700 friends.
Despite her requests, they have refused to delete the photos – prompting her to sue them. “I’m tired of not being taken seriously by my parents.”
Apparently, the girl’s dad believes that because he took the photos, he has the right to post them. Her lawyer Michael Rami believes that if they can prove the images have violated her rights to a personal life, they have a good chance of winning the case, which will be tried in November. If her folks lose, it could have a wide-reaching effect on parents with poor boundaries everywhere. They’d also likely be obligated to pay for her legal costs, as well as some compensation for pain and suffering.
Obviously, opinions are varied about what is or is not appropriate to share on social media about your kid. It is good to keep in mind that they may one day grow up to have their own opinions about it as well, and hell hath no fury like an embarrassed teen.
