Mommy blogger Kelle Hampton is creating a buzz after posting her naked daughter's photo on Instagram on Friday, Jan. 20, 2013.
The photo, posted above, has been cropped to protect the nudity of the child, although it is still up on Instagram and appears on Webstagram , an Instagram web viewer.
The fully nude photo of the child, standing up eating ice cream in the bathtub, is controversial not because it's unnatural for a child to have their clothes off in the bath and not because she's eating ice cream.
Eating ice cream in the bath is an ingenious idea, because it's always a messy event for toddlers.
The issue is privacy. Posting personal photos on the Internet is the norm now, but with the joy of sharing comes the risk of getting that photo into the wrong hands. The hands of sick, Internet predators who prey on children, teens and unsuspecting adults.
Aside from the risks of posting nude photos of children online, there are the rules of Instagram that Hampton is ignoring:
"While we respect the artistic integrity of photos, we have to keep our product and the photos within it in line with our App Store’s rating for nudity and mature content. In other words, please do not post nudity or mature content of any kind."
Hampton, who runs the blog, KelleHampton.com , has not removed the picture of her daughter from her Instagram account. With over 1454 "likes," perhaps she feels that she has plenty of support and doesn't need to.
And for any of the commenters who didn't agree with her post, she responded with a simple, "don’t like it, unfollow."
"Your child should have the right to decide who gets to see her naked." - BrandyAustin, Instagram commenter
While it's fantastic to stand up for your own posts and photos and turn a cheek to the naysayers, perhaps in this instance, the commenters are correct in asking Hampton to take the child's picture down.
"Kids deserve privacy and respect, and that goes for putting their naked bodies on the Internet for anyone to see." amy7474 Instagram commenter
Disturbing statistics might help convince Kelly Hampton, but perhaps they will persuade another blogger to keep photos of their child bathing, naked or partially nude off the Internet.
According to Guard Child , the FBI reports a 2000 percent increase in the number of child pornography images on the internet since 1996. Approximately 116,000 child pornography requests are made daily on the Internet.
Minor Monitor writes, "Online predators are sly and often know how to get what they want. There are many predators who are looking specifically for nude photos of children."
Keep in mind, photos may be deleted, but they will stay on the Web forever. These photos will surface years from now when a child is in high school, college or even when they are an adult.
Aside from the dangers of predators, there's the feeling of embarrassment that may just cause some embarrassment for children who are sensitive to the fact that their parents put them on display in what should have been a private moment.
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