Why are schools posting student photos on social media?
School districts are publicly sharing pictures and names of students on public social media pages, exposing children to anyone on the internet. Parents feel this creates significant privacy and online safety risks, contrasting sharply with restricted classroom apps meant only for parents.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 11.7× more often in r/Teachers than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Not signing the media consent formDid this help you?
- 2Checking school district policies regarding student privacyDid this help you?
- 3Sending a strongly worded email or involving HR and the unionDid this help you?
- 4Setting strict no-AI rules in personal classrooms and framing AI use as a personal choice to studentsDid this help you?
- 5Talking through the errors and alterations added by AI during presentationsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Thats right one of my team members took pictures of the event, sent them to the principal and she ran them through AI.”source ↗
“Im also uncomfortable because I didnt consent to her running my image through AI, not to mention all of our students.”source ↗
“You are not alone. So many administrations across my district use AI for emails, posters, and eval.”source ↗
“I presented at a school leaders' meeting last week and gave my principal the slides ahead of time. He ran them through AI to "make them look nice" and didn't tell me until a few minutes before the presentation.”source ↗
“Is anyone else particularly bothered with how school districts so willingly post the student’s on their social media pages?”source ↗
“My kids are in school this year, and the district they go to posts the students all the time.”source ↗
“It’s like inviting everyone - EVERYONE to see all the kids who attend there all the time.”source ↗
“Absolutely, I am not a fan. I don't mind the pictures sent out on Dojo to only parents as much but schools having social media to post pictures of students is fucking insane.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6How to ask friends not to post pictures of your kids online
- 4Is it safe to send photos of my ID to a private host?
- 4Can I refuse to let my employer post my photo online?
- 3Students cheating and filming with smart glasses
- 5How do you keep up with all the school app notifications?
- 3How to know what your kid did at school all day