The past week my Facebook feed has been filled with adorable back to school photos of my family & friend's kids. This time of year parents love to show off their children in the their "first day" pictures holding those Etsy style signs. As much as we all love the cuteness overload, all the sharing may actually be dangerous.

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The latest trend all over social media is taking a picture of your child holding a board with information about them, like their teacher’s name, their best friends and their favorite color. Cute? Yes, but those posts could be giving criminals the keys to commit a crime against your family and your kids with that information, like your child’s teacher or what they want to be when they grow up, being used to get access to your child.

Deputy Tim Creighton, a school resource officer with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois, took his concerns to social media to alert parents to the potential danger. He actually did so by mimicking the viral photo shoots flooding the internet.

“They were sharing a lot of personal information on their post. They create these cardboard things and they were colorful and they were saying a lot of information that we felt was not safe to be put on the internet,” said Deputy Tim Creighton. 

In his post to the McHenry County Sheriff's Facebook page, Creighton highlights the information to avoid in the posts involving your kids.

He points ot that no matter your privacy settings or friends list, its best to keep personal information on the internet to the bare minimum.

Don't share:
  • School name
  •  Age
  •  Teacher's name and grade
  •  Identifying features (height, weight, etc.)
  •  Overly personal information (think items related to passwords or security question answers, etc.)

We know every first day is a big day, but with the craziness of the world and the easy access, maybe just stick to showing off pics of your on your phone when your see friends and family in person.

“We constantly tell the kids in school think before you share,” Creighton told WOOD.tv. “Adults need to do the same thing.”

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