Cyber fears are the sad reality of back to school 2019

Cyber safety experts have warned parents that posting snaps on social media of their children going back to school could endanger the youngsters.

As thousands of children streamed back into WA classrooms yesterday, Facebook was flooded with pictures of children in their new uniforms — most of them easily identifiable.

Eyes Open Social Media Safety managing director Tricia Munn said there was a real risk that predators looking for children in the area could track students down from their parents’ social media posts.

There was also the possibility that criminals could identify children and use that information to intimidate their parents.

Although the group recommends that parents don’t post any images online of their child in a school uniform, it has offered safety tips for those who still insist on sharing photos of school milestones.

Ms Munn said any school signage or logos on bags or uniforms should be blurred.

A greyscale filter should be used to obscure school uniform colours.

“If you take out the colours it just makes it a much bigger effort for anybody that’s trying to track down information,” Ms Munn said.

Parents should also create a customised list and share pictures of their children only with people on that list.

“Often people think their security settings are set high, when they’re not.

“Parents also don’t realise they are creating a digital footprint of their child that is there forever, leading people to every detail of a child’s life.”

Holly-ann Martin, who founded WA child protection education group Safe4Kids, said parents loved to post back-to-school pictures so they could see them pop up again the following year, but it was risky.

She said paedophiles were likely to follow social media hashtags related to the first day of school. “If you take (a photo) outside the school you’ve got the school sign, or their uniforms have the logo,” she said.

Ms Martin said many parents also failed to put enough thought into the potential long-term consequences of posting pictures of children online.

“Countries like France are taking this seriously, and if parents post pictures in France of their kids without their children’s consent they could be charged.

“People don’t realise the settings they have, and if they tag someone in, then other people can see those photos as well.”

Curtin University associate professor in internet studies Tama Leaver said the return to school was “an emotional rite of passage”, but pictures should be shared only with close family and friends.