Police Warn of Posting Back to School Pictures on Social Media
How is this possible? There's no way we can be reaching the end of summer break already! It seems like parents were just breathing a sigh of relief and kids were doing the happy dance as the last school year ended. But it's true.....school has slowly been starting all over the state - and country - over the last few weeks. Missoula students are enjoying the calm before the storm with their last days of freedom as they get ready to report for duty next week.
Even if you don't have kids, and your so far out of the loop about when the first day of school might be.....there's one way you'll always be reminded of when everyone is heading back to class. You can't escape the crazy amount of back to school pictures that are about to flood your social media pages in just a matter of days! They'll take over your timeline for a good 24 hours - and then you'll know what grade every kid...of every casual friend that you haven't talked to in years...is going into.
And if you're a proud parent that plans to post the annual picture for the world to see.....just remember to think about what info you're about to potentially share online. Everybody seems to include those art boards where you list all of your child's info and their favorite things. Montana Right Now has a story where police are warning parents about possibly sharing too much info that could put your child in danger: "Things like children's teacher's names, height, weight, or even overly personal information like their favorite color, food, or movie could be used by predators or others looking to endanger your child or family."
Imagine somebody approaching your kid and starting a conversation.....and they know all of their favorite things. It would probably make a child let their guard down a bit if a stranger said something like "your mom tells me your favorite animal is a unicorn," and they use the info posted on a back to school picture to try and build trust. Think about how scary that is.
I'm sorry - I'm not trying to scare anyone. It's just a crazy world out there with people that find ways to turn good things into bad things. Just keep it in mind to be careful what you include when the school year starts and you're posting pictures!