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French parents may be banned from sharing photos of their kids online. Should every country do it?

Has “sharenting” gone too far?

france, sharenting, kids social media
via Pexels

A mom takes a selfie with her two children.

France’s National Assembly has passed a new law that could seriously impact parents’ ability to share photos of their children online. If passed by the Senate and signed by the president, it would give courts the power to ban parents from posting pictures of their children online.

The bill is controversial because it takes away parents’ rights and puts them in the hands of the government. But supporters believe there are more than a few good reasons for the potential ban.

First, it keeps the child’s image out of the hands of unsavory characters. Member of Parliament Bruno Studer, who proposed the bill, told Le Monde , “'A 13-year-old child has an average of 1,300 images of themselves circulating on the internet. These are photos that can be misused for child pornography or that can lead to bullying in the school environment.”

According to Le Monde, 50% of all imagery of children shared on child pornography forums was first posted online by the child’s parents. The bill would also give both parents the right to the child’s image, so if one parent thinks the other is posting inappropriate images, they have the right to stop it.

"The first two articles aim to establish the protection of privacy as one of the responsibilities of parents as holders of parental authority, for which they must obviously involve the child,” Struder continued. "In the most extreme cases, it is provided that the family judge may, if necessary, make a forced partial delegation of parental authority for the specific case of an exercise of image rights."

Opponents of the bill believe that the legislation would strike a blow to parents’ rights. But doesn’t a child have a right to choose how their image is used, especially in a world where the photos could remain visible for the foreseeable future? As the old saying goes, online is forever and photos taken of someone as a child could follow them around well into adulthood.

Further, as the first generation of children who grew up in influencer families are becoming adults, we’re starting to realize the damage the lifestyle can have on young people. Aren’t these kids entitled to some protection from being exploited by their parents?

"We talk a lot about image rights, but not about children's dignity," Thomas Rohmer, Director and founder of l’Observatoire de la Parentalité et de l’Education Numérique, told Le Monde.

The bill has struck up a much-needed debate online and some parents are adamant that it’s their business what they do with photos of their children and no one else’s.

Others joked that bills like this would help end the annoying “sharenting” trend.

Some applaud the idea.

The debate is interesting because it involves three rightfully interested parties—parents, their children, and a state entrusted to protect children's rights. Whether or not the law is passed, the debate should serve as a way for people to confront this serious idea and to give parents a reason to think twice before posting photos of their children online.

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Sweden’s landmark new proposal will stop the world from mixing it up with Switzerland

Honestly, do you know the difference?

True

After over a thousand years of peaceful relations, European semi-superpowers Sweden and Switzerland may finally address a lingering issue between the two nations. But the problem isn’t either country’s fault. The point is that the rest of the world can’t tell them apart. They simply don’t know their kroppkakor (Swedish potato dumpling) from their birchermüesli (a Swiss breakfast dish).

This confusion on the European continent has played out in countless ways.

Swedish people who move to the United States often complain of being introduced as Swiss. The New York Stock Exchange has fallen victim to the confusion, and a French hockey team once greeted their Swiss opponents, SC Bern, by playing the Swedish National Anthem and raising the Swedish flag.

Skämtar du med mig? (“Are you kidding me?” in Swedish)

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Ever wonder why people 100 years ago died so much younger? It's these 14 reasons.

1796. That's when we invented vaccines. An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

FACT CHECK TIME! This article originally appeared on 11.21.14 and t his infographic is based on data from 2012.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

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Pop Culture

SNL sketch about George Washington's dream for America hailed an 'instant classic'

"People will be referencing it as one of the all time best SNL skits for years.”

Saturday Night Live/ Youtube

Seriously, what were our forefathers thinking with our measuring system?

Ever stop to think how bizarre it is that the United States is one of the only countries to not use the metric system? Or how it uses the word “ football ” to describe a sport that, unlike fútbol, barely uses the feet at all?

What must our forefathers have been thinking as they were creating this brave new world?

Wonder no further. All this and more is explored in a recent Saturday Night Live sketch that folks are hailing as an “instant classic.”
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Identity

75-year-old ‘hip-hop granny’ impresses and inspires with her dance moves

Ms. Stephanie didn’t even start formal dance lessons until she was almost 30.

@fiercefitnessty/TikTok

Ms. Stephanie bringing it at her hip-hop class.

Stephanie Walsh isn't your average hip-hop dancer. At 75, "Ms. Stephanie" is still able to hold her own on the dance floor, popping and locking with people a third her age, and she loves it.

When you see her dance —and her enviable muscle tone—you might think she'd been a trained dancer all her life. But she actually didn't take any formal dance lessons until she was almost 30.

Walsh told Growing Bolder that she had wanted her daughter to dance when she was little, so she got her ballet lessons, which the daughter hated. Realizing that dancing was her dream and not her daughter's, Walsh took her kiddo out of ballet and started classes herself right away.

She had always loved to dance and developing her skills only led to more and more dancing.

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Joy

Woman's mom makes surprise visit to baby shower but she hilariously keeps overlooking her

She was so busy hugging friends that she didn't notice her mom was standing right there.

LADbible Ireland|Facebook

Woman doesn't recognize her own mom at baby shower

Sometimes we get caught up in the moment and overlook details that are right in front of our faces. It's usually little things, like forgetting a bag or not remembering what your spouse was wearing. But sometimes, we overlook some pretty significant things and it's something that can really only be explained by excitement.

A moment like that was caught on video and shared with LADbible on social media.

One woman having a baby shower was doing her duties greeting guests who arrived, particularly excited about a pair of friends that showed up. Hugs, smiles and greetings flowed while one person stood awkwardly to the side hoping the pregnant woman would stop to notice her. The woman sort of smiled as she watched the mom-to-be gush over her friends as she hugged their necks. It didn't take long before the pregnant woman looked in the direction of the person waiting to be greeted.

But it didn't register who was waiting patiently for a hug, until again, she looked in the direction of the woman waiting. Nope. Still didn't click.

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Family

Mom wants to know when Halloween became 'an adult pub crawl'?

"Have parents always done this, and they're just being more public about it now?”

via S am Beckwith/Pexels and UltimiteMomChallenge/Tiktok

Celeste Yvonne had a recent Halloween realization.

Celeste Yvonne , a certified recovery coach and a founding host of the Sober Mom Squad, had a Halloween realization and wanted to know if she was the only person who felt the same.

“This morning, I'm listening to parents at the school drop-off area talk about how they will be bringing a keg onto their golf carts when they do the trick-or-treating rounds with their kids this year,” Yvonne says in a viral TikTok video.

“I'm not shaming them, but my question is: when did trick-or-treating become a beer crawl or pub crawl for adults?” she asked. “This is a newer phenomenon, isn't it? Or have parents always done this, and they're just being more public about it now?”

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Pop Culture

Rick Astley re-records 'Never Gonna Give You Up' but with all the commonly misheard lyrics

Can you spot all the changes?

SpecsaversOfficial/ Youtube

"Then I'm gonna give you up…then I'm gonna let you down.."

Rick Astley fans, rejoice. The singer has just released a new recording of his biggest hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” on Oct 24.

Only this version might be…a little different than what you’re used to hearing. Unless of course you’ve been hearing it wrong this entire time.

That’s because this version incorporates all the commonly misheard lyrics associated with the 80s bop. Cause why not?


In the new version of the track, you might notice “we’re no strangers to love” being replaced by “we’re no strangers to lunch,” as well as Astley, for some reason, singing “your aunt’s naked” and belting about running around with dessert spoons.

Listen:

That’s right, “don’t tell me not to plant a seed,” indeed! Free gardening for all!

Of course, this is more than just a fun cover. Astley partnered up with Specsavers to raise awareness of hearing loss—something the 80s icon struggles with himself and currently wears hearing aids to help with the condition.

In an interview with Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary on “ This Morning ,” Astley shared that he first started noticing issues while performing live shows again.

“I went to have my ears checked. I have noticed over the last few years, and we have in-ears when we play live and I’ve been turning them down over the past few years because I’ve noticed that it’s been too loud when I come off stage. I can hear it ringing,” he said.

Specsavers conducted a survey on 2,000 adults, and found that a little over 16% blamed their hearing for getting lyrics wrong. Meanwhile 28% admitted having difficulty hearing the TV or radio properly. And a whooping 51% find conversations with background noise difficult. ( Daily Mail )

And yet, over half of the participants had never had their hearing tested. The reasoning for this could be twofold.

One, people might assume that only those like Astley, who’ve spent a majority of their life surrounded by loud noise, could be susceptible to hearing loss (in actuality, about one-third of older adults have hearing loss , and the chance of developing hearing loss increases with age). So they might not think that a misheard lyric here or there could be a sign of a larger issue.

And two, some people might not want to admit that they are having hearing loss, embarrassed at the notion of having to wear hearing aids and being perceived as old or disabled.

And that’s why Specsavers sought the help of a pop icon in their campaign—to break any stigma surrounding hearing aids and inspire others to get their hearing tested.

“I’d encourage anyone to get their hearing tested if they notice any changes,” says Astley, “so they don’t lose the sounds or music they love.”

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