Parents Gym parents check this out and lets discuss

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

I'm not even sure what to make of that. Obviously it's completely disgusting that there are those types of people out there who would..... ICK! You know what I mean. But I also think it's crazy to try to regulate parents taking pictures of their children. Perhaps the government should be focusing more on putting those horrible people behind bars instead (in jail as opposed to my other, much more creative ideas).
 
I have a feeling I would like your creative ideas:D


When I picked a picture like the one below I always think about who will see and if her face is visible and all that stuff. Being a mom I want to show her off but that instinct to protect overrides it
 
I agree with Shawn. It is nearly impossible to regulate such things as parents taking pictures of their children. If they choose to post them on the internet, they are doing so at their own discretion. What about other sports, such as swimming, cheerleading (some of those uniforms are way more revealing than leotards), dance...anything that is the similar type of costume. I think, like Shawn said, the authorities need to worry more about catching these criminals and punishing them then trying to regulate what pictures parents are taking of their kids.
 
Last edited:
We do not post gym videos or pics of our kids for this reason. I know they are great , everyone else has to use their imagination.:D
 
It is always best to be careful, at a large home meet, parents reported to the meet director that there was a man in the audience taking strange pictures. Our meet director, always being careful called the local police, and it was determined that the man had no athlete at the competition. When the police investigated him they found he was not taking pictures of the gymnasts, only parts of the gymnasts.

Although he did nothing that was really illegal, he was removed and the pictures were taken from his camera(digital), so it is always best to keep an eye on what is going on around you. Those people are everywhere and don't always look alot different from your normal spectator.
 
Eeeew and double eeeew. I usually try to stay anon when I post pics of my kids to protect their identity - I never really thought about what someone might do with a pic in a leo. YUCK. And disturbing.

but it also brings to mind something else I am working on and I've totally changed my mind on what I'm going to put there.

THANK YOU for sharing this.

Another question - do you think a photo where the child's face is blurred or otherwise obscured would be enough to prevent these creeps from "using" the photo in any way, shape, or form? Or do you think they don't care so much about the faces?

I'm leaning towards the latter and think the tracksuit option is a good one.
 
Its sad that we as parents need to worry about this
Ick I will def be more careful of wha I put on the net of my kids
 
I thought I was being really careful, never using her name, etc. But then I realized, if someone really wanted to "find" us, they could. I might tell you guys that she won whatever place at whatever recent meet and someone could easily get online and find those meet results and get my daughter's name. From that, they could also get her gym. Which means they could find my daughter. Instead of being freaked out by the nut jobs out there, I will do everything I can to protect my daughter physically. I am always with her. I never leave her alone, anywhere, EVER. Even at the gym. In fact, school is the only place she is without me (or my husband, grandparents, etc). I'm trying to be smart and protective but also realistic. I can't lock her in a closet and what she does is a public sport. I just do the best I can.
 
I thought I was being really careful, never using her name, etc. But then I realized, if someone really wanted to "find" us, they could. I might tell you guys that she won whatever place at whatever recent meet and someone could easily get online and find those meet results and get my daughter's name. From that, they could also get her gym. Which means they could find my daughter. Instead of being freaked out by the nut jobs out there, I will do everything I can to protect my daughter physically. I am always with her. I never leave her alone, anywhere, EVER. Even at the gym. In fact, school is the only place she is without me (or my husband, grandparents, etc). I'm trying to be smart and protective but also realistic. I can't lock her in a closet and what she does is a public sport. I just do the best I can.

Not to freak you out - but I actually used you as an example when showing my dd how dangerous the internet can be and to be really careful with what you tell people and post online. I randomly picked a post - did some googling and yes - it is very easy to find that info. She was shocked how quickly I was able to find out the info and now she is much more careful about what info she puts out there. Your dd is still very young so you are still with her all the time. My dd is a little older so she is allowed to ride her bike up the street to her friends house etc - so now my paranoia is in full force.
 
Not to freak you out - but I actually used you as an example when showing my dd how dangerous the internet can be and to be really careful with what you tell people and post online. I randomly picked a post - did some googling and yes - it is very easy to find that info. She was shocked how quickly I was able to find out the info and now she is much more careful about what info she puts out there. Your dd is still very young so you are still with her all the time. My dd is a little older so she is allowed to ride her bike up the street to her friends house etc - so now my paranoia is in full force.

Oh good. That makes me feel secure. :eek:
 
Sorry - didn't mean to freak you out :eek: You were 100% right though saying that we all put enough info on to make it fairly easy to find who we are. Having a dd who thinks she knows it all - she is 11 after all - I needed to prove a point to her b/c her and her friends want to post things on youtube and didn't understand just how easy it is nowadays to find people with just a little bit of personal info.
 
I worry about it sometimes, but not too much. If they want to get off on pictures of little girls, there isn't much I can do. We had this discussion when I was part of a cloth diapering board. There were people getting off on pics of babies in cloth diapers. Unfortunately, there are sick people out there.

As Shawn said, you can easily find most gymnasts if you really want to. The meet scores and names, etc are out there. Some state meet results even have the full DOB. Talk about scary. I guess it is a risk we take. You can only hope for the best.
 
I think that it is a sad world we live in - where "normal" people have to restrict what they do because there are too many sick people around.
 
One thing I do is google my kids' names on a regular basis. If anyone is talking about them by name on the 'net, I want to know about it. DD's name comes up 7 times, 6 of them are meet results. The 7th is a friend's horse boarding business where she has a picture of DD on horseback. I even check my 5-year-old's name, just in case. And I'm sure you all know the horrible things that can be online about middle and high school kids, so I check my oldest son, too. None of the results for any of my kids are pictures (except the horseback riding and those aren't clear pictures).
 
I've done a fair amount of research with pedophiles...You would be surprised at the things they will do and the things that are attractive to them. Some have sophisticated techniques for acquiring children- I'd say the majority have victims of convenience (friend, step-child, etc.). As other posters have suggested, I also would not post pictures of my kids on the internet- not just because they might be identified/found, but also because the thought of a pedophile is using a video or photo of my child for his "pleasure" makes my stomach hurt!

I do think regulating parent photos is going way too far. Esp. considering many perps are aroused by nonsuggestive photos such as children's clothing catalogs!
 
Thanks for posting this! I was involved with a heated debate last year on another site. I hope you don't mind I did a cut & paste & shared it with them! There was a poster upset that he/she was not allowed to video a meet. The poster admitted to not having a child there in the meet & several of us moms pounced on them. They only admitted in being a gymnastics lover and couldn't understand why they were questioned at a sporting event. Mind you it wasn't an upper level event either like L9 or L10 taping for college. While I think forbidding anyone to take pictures or videotape their DD at a meet is a little too extreme, I do believe that this subject should be taken seriously! I also am a little tweeked to know my DD's name can be googled. Maybe meet scores posted online should go to a USAG site only & you need your USAG membership number to view? I do have pictures posted, but have checked to make sure there is nothing exposed. I will however, after reading this discussion, try to change my picture file name. It's sad to think there really are wackos out there.

A true story. A couple years ago there was a Girl Scout fun fair here in our town. There were games, food and a couple of those bouncy things. A man was arrested after it was noticed he was indeed videotaping little girls as they jumped up and down. Anyone would have thought him a proud parent taping those special momments of his child...EEEEWWWW no...he was taping for his pleasure! Good thing people became suspicious and called police. And, my DD did not do the jumpy thing that day thank God!
 
yuck. It's so gross.:eek: They are going after the wrong people. :mad: If one is on the lookout you can find the bad guys and it's not the mom and dad with their camcorders and cameras; it's that wacko guy catesmom wrote about. If parents and gymnasts are made aware they can spot them pretty quickly. But don't tell parents what images they can and cannot take of their own children that's absurd! :confused:
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back