Is it ok?

Ok, so hear me out. A friend of mine is travelling around Europe and she is regularly posting selfies, scenic views and pics of her with friends and acquaintances drinking wine and eating delicious food. All lovely and innocuous, great to see and follow her journey vicariously.

She recently moved on to Athens, Greece and her latest post included a close-up photo of a child on the airport bus. Her comment was that he intrigued her.

I’m not always one for commenting, but this one disturbed me. She did not know this child, took his photo (he looked around 6 years old) without permission and posted it all over her social media.

I commented and asked if she had asked permission of his parents to take the photo and then to upload it to social media.

Her response: “well, I felt I had a silent communication with the boy and because of that I felt ok to post his photo”

Seriously? I replied that whilst she, (and the emphasis is on she, we have no idea what the boy thought or felt), may have felt she had some form of communication, that to then take it the next step of taking his photo and posting it was a liberty that was not hers to take.

Fortunately she replied “noted” and she took the photo and post down.

It really is not ok to objectify children that you do not know for clicks and likes.

Ok, rant over!