Day: November 8, 2004

This entry is an exercise in thinking out loud and also fishing to see if other people have thoughts on the topic:

Today Howard aired an Open Letter which included a picture of him wearing our newest t-shirt. Gleek is also in the picture and that is what I have mixed feelings over. The back of my brain has a worrysome voice which whispers to me that putting my children’s real names and pictures on the internet for public perusal somehow lessens their safety. Logically I just don’t think this is so, but I have a hard time shutting up that voice.

Suppose some child predator sees my child’s picture and name on the internet somewhere. That person has to then connect the child with a location, not too hard I suppose. Then that person has to stake out the locations where my child will go, and find an opportunity where no one is watching to harm my child. I could try to hide the fact of my child’s existence, but this would be fairly impossible to do. Birth records, census records, school records, and numerous other records are all available to ingenious people. I feel like I do much better to control physical access to my child. None of my children are yet old enough to keep themselves safe without adult help, so I have to make sure that they aren’t left without reliable adults nearby. This does more to keep my kids safe than keeping their names secret or refusing to publish pictures.

And yet pictures and names are powerful. Despite all of the above, I still intend to use nicknames when speaking of my kids online. It may do nothing to protect, but it causes no harm. I have mixed feelings about the picture. I feel strange about using my child’s picture as part of a sales pitch. Part of me wants everyone to see how wonderful my little girl is. Part of me worries about who is seeing how wonderful my little girl is. Howard’s increasing fame is a factor as well. The more people who see the picture, the greater the odds that one of them is psychotic in a way that could threaten my children.

On the other hand children are overwhelmingly harmed and abused, not by strangers, but by friends and family. That says to me that the risk in posting pictures is very low. But isn’t any avoidable risk worth avoiding?

I have no conclusions, only thoughts. I’d be happy to know your thoughts too.

The trip was really good. I’m glad to be back home though. Today is my day to sit down with reciepts and see how much the trip actually cost us. I’ve also got laundry to catch up on and a few last bits of yardwork to do before the ground freezes.

My new Schlock shirt showed up today. I now have one of Howard’s new Rule #35 shirts. Howard will be taking pictures and posting them in his open letter. So if anyone has been wondering what I look like, you’ll have your chance to see. But picture taking will not happen until after I’ve had a chance to shower and fix my hair which will not be until I find a time when I can take a shower by myself without two small people to participate.

Back to work with me.