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Posting Pictures Of Family


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I am very new to this website and geocaching. I know on a snowmobile forum I belong to pictures make it great. This forum seems very large though and I am very leary of posting pictures of my family and kids on here. Too many strange people. Now I didn't log my home coordinates on here just because I don't like the idea of someone I don't know being able to have access to my home location especially if I post pictures of my children.

 

So am I being a little paraniod here or does anyone else feel the same way? I guess posting pictures of the scenery around the cache's is just as good. I will stick to that for now.

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Have them wear disguises :rolleyes: and dark sunglasses ;) . Yeah ,,,It's ME :anibad:

 

It's nice to see someone concerned about their children. I just finished teaching a 2 day Hunter Trapper Education class.... and it is amazing how many parents just drop their kids off at the door to the Gun Club and drive away without even coming inside and meeting the instructors!

 

Do whatever feels right to you! B) Welcome to the caching community! ImpalaBob

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I don't think my kids are more vunerable just because someone can see what they look like, or learn that I have kids. I still protect them to the best of my ability.

 

I think it falls into the same category as, 'what if someone puts a bomb in a geocache' or 'uses a listing to lure people into the woods'. There are more likely things to be worrying about.

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I don't post my kids pictures on the net. Of course, I am an overprotective mama, in a city with a higher percentage of sex offenders than normal.

I don't feel it is wrong for people to post them, in fact kids are fabulous. The pictures that worry me are when parents post pics of their kids that are in the tub, or wearing provactive clothing. I doubt any of the parents here would let their kids wear that caching :rolleyes:

Do what lets you sleep at night.

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I think my spider senses are just tunred on high right now. I live in Spokane, WA and after seeing all about that dirtbag over in N. Idaho that kidnapped those kids and killed that family I just want to keep a tight reign on my kids.

 

I guess no need to take any extra chances. I will keep my picture taking more focused on the surrounding scenery for now.

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Being in BSA, I have gotten used to their policies over the last decade or so which is somewhat of a compromise that addresses these concerns.

 

Pictures may be posted, however never using the name of the youth or only first name.

 

There it is policy, here it would be voluntary. However having said this, if you are asking the question, then you shouldn't post them. You have concerns, well founded with many of the issues that have presented themselves on the internet over the years, and if you are not comfortable with it I would go with that feeling.

 

I agree that there are no known issues here and I can't think there ever would be, but then again, being wrong about this once would be one time too many.

Edited by baloo&bd
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I have posted several pictures of my kids on the web site, I am proud of what they have accomplished while going for a cache PLUS they look better than I do. I am more concerned about then falling down riding their bikes than someone viewing a harmless picture of them on the net. Nutcases don't work that way, it's not like Groundspeak is publishing your name, address and SSN every time you log your visit. It's responsible adults who are proud of these kids and want everyone else to be proud of these kids. Another side thought - what do you do with the kids when you go out in public?

2244139b-ac73-45a5-bd80-3b807f0e2994.jpg

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I'm new here, but I don't see a problem with posting a picture of my daughter. In fact, if I knew how, I'd post the picture of the micro she found with me today - actually, I forgot a pen, so figured a picture would be proof! :lol:

 

It kinda goes along the same lines of people who post pictures of their vehicles and blur the license plates. Don't they know people see those things when the drive it down the street!?

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Echoing what others said, do what makes you feel comfortable. The home coordinates will help with your searching (or you could use a zip code), though I'm pretty sure nobody else can see them but you.

 

welcome to geocaching!

You don't need to use the exact coords of your house. You can us coords from a few blocks away and still get nearly the same result. This way any evildoers who come after your kids will get someone elses.

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Echoing what others said, do what makes you feel comfortable.  The home coordinates will help with your searching (or you could use a zip code), though I'm pretty sure nobody else can see them but you.

 

welcome to geocaching!

You don't need to use the exact coords of your house. You can us coords from a few blocks away and still get nearly the same result. This way any evildoers who come after your kids will get someone elses.

Hmmm, there's this little punk on the other side of the block that I can't stand my kids to play with. Maybe I should change mine to HIS home coordinates.

Edited by Bear Paughs
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You don't need to use the exact coords of your house.  You can us coords from a few blocks away and still get nearly the same result.  This way any evildoers who come after your kids will get someone elses.

When I first signed up I was leary about putting my home coords in too, but now that I've been using the site a bit, I have never seen any way for someone to obtain the coords to my house. Perhaps Jeremy could confirm whether there's any method to get at someone else's home coords? There shouldn't be for security reasons. But, as briansnat said, the coords posted for me are to a house down the street from mine.

 

As far as pictures go, never concerned me. I'm more worried about the person driving slowly past my house than I am about someone who-knows-where seeing my kids pictures online.

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I'm more worried about the person driving slowly past my house than I am about someone who-knows-where seeing my kids pictures online.

I believe that each individual should do as their heart demands.

My personal fear is of all the psychotic and sociopathic people who are amongst those of us who may not be totally sane but who do not use force or violence unless it is first offered and then only to the degree that it is offered.

After some of the things I have personally observed I will always council on the side of caution.

For those of you who have already posted their childrens pics on the web there is great consolation in rationalization.

For those who have not it is still a choice.

The answer to the quote above is that you do not know whether the person driving slowly and the guy that was just arrested in San jose,CA are one and the same.

His molestations were country wide and he kept a journel.

Think about it.

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I won't post a photo of my son online. Not with what people can do with computers these days. I used to have a job as an operator monitoring predatory offenders with the GPS legbands, and let me tell you, they're in every neighborhood, working normal jobs, looking completely normal. I trust noone when it comes to my family's safety.

 

I use to have a photo in my profile of my son and I at a cache. Then one day I came outside and found some toys on my porch with a note that said, "from a fellow geocacher" and nothing else. Since only one cacher knew where I lived at the time and I knew it wasn't him, I was much more creeped out than appreciative. I immediately deleted the photo from my profile and any other references that might give someone information about us.

 

I ended up meeting the person who dropped off the gift, and he was well-intentioned, but I forgot to ask him how he knew where I lived--still don't know. He also named a cache after my son after being impressed by logs of some of the difficult caches I had brought him to. I'm sure he meant it as a complement, but I don't care for it. I didn't really know how to tell him his gesture was unwelcome but I still don't like running across that cache listing.

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Who needs your home coordinates? Someone who *really* wanted to figure it out could find you a lot more ways than that.

 

Pedophilia is a crime of opportunity and power. There's no opportunity or control of the situation to wait in the woods near a geocache hoping just kids or even a family comes along. There are tons of kids every day out there to photograph and/or abduct from parents that are probably far worse at paying attention on a crowded playground than those that would get their kids involved in geocaching.

 

Do you keep their photos out of the school yearbook (you know how easy it is to get an extra copy of that) or the paper or any of a billion other places their photo could turn up?

 

It's just not plausable that a picture of your kids geocaching on one of the thousands of logs in a week on this site these days is going to make them a greater risk or target for a problem than simply not instilling them with good judgement and keeping appropriate attention on them in public.

 

If you want to add a nice photo to a log entry from a caching trip, do so. If you don't because you're paranoid, don't.

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I have lots of pictures posted of my kids. I rarely if ever mention their real names. I usually refer to each of them by their geo-nick.

 

On the grander scale, I know that there are bad people out there. I choose not to live my life in fear of them. That doesn't mean I don't worry about what could happen, it just means that I choose not to let the fear stop me from doing things I want to do. And one of the things I enjoy doing is sharing pictures of my kids.

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I'm a proud papa!! I have posted many pictures of my kid through the years. I usually just reference his first name but I am not going to get paranoid about creeps online.

 

Local libraries have yearbooks with pictures, school web sites have pictures, if your kid is involved in School activities then the local newspaper web site has photos, Local sports programs have pictures on sites, Aunts-Uncles-Friends-Family-churches all have pictures on web sites etc........ Can't stop it all. Teach your kids well and watch them close is the best advice.

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I post pictures of my 3 and 6 year and it is all part of the game. They enjoy seeing their pictures on the website and I'm always amazed at what they remember about the cache from the pictures. I have never had a problem and recomend it just for the fact when you are going through the gallery later you get to remember, "That is where I carried my kid up the hill."

 

Once again, it is what you feel comfortable with.

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I trust noone when it comes to my family's safety.

 

Peter Noone?

 

On the serious side, I coach a girls travelling soccer team. Many teams have their player's names on the back of their jerseys. We felt uncomfortable at idea of doing that. Some weirdo sitting in the park has his eye on one of the girls and immediatley knows her last name, and if he pays attention, probably her first name too. The girls wanted their names on their jerseys and couldn't understand why we wouldn't do it.

 

That being said, I have no qualms about posting my step-daughter's or nephew's photos. As others said, they are available everywhere.

Edited by briansnat
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Post pics of my kid? Yes, absolutely. I also am familiar with folks who wear GPS home arrest bracelets and those who do not wear them. I am also familiar with how folks get info from computers. There are many many much easier ways for them to get to the information they are looking for.

 

I prefer not to lock myself in my home hiding from society because there "might" be iminent danger if I leave my home. Yes, I am familiar with what is happening and I now how to avoid it.

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Before I end my posting to this thread.

Which has been very informative indeed.

I would like to make one last comment.

When you attend a soccer game or go on errands about town you are exposed to maybe a couple of hundred people.

When you post on the internet you may be exposed to billions on a random basis.

We know that the present flavor of stalker uses the internet almost compulsively.

Some of you scare me with your feelings of invulnerabiity and lack of care for your own children.

But then my own kids say I'm overprotective.

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I was under the impression the vast majority of sexual assults on young children are perpetrated by relatives / close family friends. The "Stranger Danger" mantra is misdirected.

 

So maybe you should be more worried about letting family / relatives / friends see pictures of your kids.

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I too have posted a few pictures of my kids and of myself. Even if some crazy person was to get on here, look through thousands of pictures, pick one person, find where they are located, the chances of that being me is highly unlikely.

 

People need to stop being so scared all the time and live a life. Why live in fear? Turn of the news and be proud to post pictures of a loving family, spending family time togather.

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I too have posted a few pictures of my kids and of myself. Even if some crazy person was to get on here, look through thousands of pictures, pick one person, find where they are located, the chances of that being me is highly unlikely.

 

People need to stop being so scared all the time and live a life. Why live in fear? Turn of the news and be proud to post pictures of a loving family, spending family time togather.

Well said. I totally agree.

 

I'm offended by the other poster's comment about the "lack of care" shown by some of parents apparently. Don't presume to know me or the care I give my children. For starters, they are at an age where they go nowhere without their dad and me, or their grandparents. They know not to talk to strangers or basically to trust anyone except their parents (sadly, this is the way we have to raise them in today's world.) We actually have drills their dad runs with them and they are prepared as best they can be on how to act in the variety of situations that may arise. As they get older the leash will be loosened as necessary, but only as they demonstrate their ability to guard themselves.

 

The photo logs are something we all enjoy and share with our family and friends. It's one of their favorite parts of this activity. We have taught our kids well and we are GREAT parents, even if we do post their photos.

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I too have posted a few pictures of my kids and of myself.  Even if some crazy person was to get on here, look through thousands of pictures, pick one person, find where they are located, the chances of that being me is highly unlikely. 

 

People need to stop being so scared all the time and live a life.  Why live in fear?  Turn of the news and be proud to post pictures of a loving family, spending family time togather.

Well said. I totally agree.

 

I'm offended by the other poster's comment about the "lack of care" shown by some of parents apparently. Don't presume to know me or the care I give my children. For starters, they are at an age where they go nowhere without their dad and me, or their grandparents. They know not to talk to strangers or basically to trust anyone except their parents (sadly, this is the way we have to raise them in today's world.) We actually have drills their dad runs with them and they are prepared as best they can be on how to act in the variety of situations that may arise. As they get older the leash will be loosened as necessary, but only as they demonstrate their ability to guard themselves.

 

The photo logs are something we all enjoy and share with our family and friends. It's one of their favorite parts of this activity. We have taught our kids well and we are GREAT parents, even if we do post their photos.

Also well said!

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Really! Just because I have no qualms about posting my children's pictures on the internet does not equate to lack of care or ignorance. Is your address in the phone book? It's on the internet. Just because YOU are afraid of something does not make others, who are not afraid of it, bad parents or people who take the safety of their children lightly. I take posting pictures on the internet lightly because I KNOW (as in, not ignorant) how they can and can not be used. So some weirdo sees pictures of my kids on the internet. So he sees I live in Fairbanks, Alaska. What of it?

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Echoing what others said, do what makes you feel comfortable.  The home coordinates will help with your searching (or you could use a zip code), though I'm pretty sure nobody else can see them but you.

 

welcome to geocaching!

You don't need to use the exact coords of your house. You can us coords from a few blocks away and still get nearly the same result. This way any evildoers who come after your kids will get someone elses.

Hmmm, there's this little punk on the other side of the block that I can't stand my kids to play with. Maybe I should change mine to HIS home coordinates.

 

Better yet...use the coordinates of the local police dept.

 

They can just find the exact place they should be.

 

Shirley~

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So what if he flys up to Fairbanks and wanders the streets for weeks on end looking for your kids?

So what if he already lives in Fairbanks, doesn't own a computer at all and just grabs them off the street the first day he spots them.......

 

You can play "What if" all day long. The question is - what is a reasonable, concrete fear and what is not. I just don't see a photo of my kid posted online to be a huge threat. Possible, yes but likely - no.

 

Love them. Hug Them. Pray for them. Teach them well and watch them like a hawk.....

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It seems to me most kidnappings are from people in your local area. I could be wrong but seems to be the standard practice. Moreover, why waste the gas driving to another state to grab a kid you saw in a photo posted on the net when you can get one locally. Gas is getting expensive :rolleyes:

 

In all seriousness, I would say a photo of your kids on the net is about as risky as a photo of your kid in the schools yearbook. My wife and I simply keep an eye on our kids. Remember you’re suppose to enjoy life.

 

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I pondered the potential harm of posting photos of family on this site, especially my sidekick two year old caching daughter. However, I came to the conclusion that posting photos of the family caching is no greater risk than anything else in life. Here are some of the points I considered:

 

1) Evildoers cannot obtain a specific point of where we live. Sure, from the logs, they could narrow it down to a 20 mile radius, but that is nothing more specific than a compulsive stalker could not get through many other various means.

 

2) The photo is no more revealing than the fact that we have physically gone to these locations, plus we participate in geocaching, and an astute evildoer/stalker would already know this. Additionally, linking a name to the face can be accomplished through many other means such as school photos/classbooks, participation in other social events in the community, and even photos in the newspaper.

 

3) My children are NEVER left unattended for more than a few steps away. The only time they do not have physical eyes-on their location by close family or friends (or at church preschool), is when they are in bed. For those occassions, they are kept track of via monitors and a home security system. If you do not present the opportunity for a kidnapping, hopefully that lessens the chances of the event occurring.

 

4) The public record is much more of a threat than GC. It is far easier to note a liscense plate number from activities out and about (anything from shopping, school, kids' groups and activities, and even geocaching), obtain school, medical clinic, and other sources in the "public" domain, to discern the abode than to use GC.com to attempt to triangulate a start point.

 

Now, as far as using actual names... hmmm. Even if we used geocaching monikers, that is even a problem. My daughter generally views geocachers as a pretty safe groups of folks (even though she's taught any generalization is dangerous and potentially misleading), so she would likely respond the same if someone used a GC name as opposed to her actual name.

 

With this in mind, I came to the conclusion posting photos was no more dangerous than anything else we do in day-to-day life. I believe the important part to remember is to teach children about the dangers in life, to be socially and environmentally conscious and savvy, and to always assess what is going on around them. Until those skills are fully developed, they should be watched at all times.

 

That is just my opinion. However, I am certain there is some group (social, governmental, or otherwise) out there that would vehemently declare I am a terrible parent and endeavor to take the children out of loving and nurturing home so that they could impart the values they believe in...

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