Would it bother you if someone was taking pictures of your kids?

[Tissa]

A few years back my ds wanted his picture with the Power Rangers so bad but when it came time to see them he chickened out and didn't want anywhere near them. My mom took pics of them with the other kids that we later edited out so we could have the character pics. I never thought about it upsetting someone.

I agree with the above poster about the crowd pics. I would not agree to delete a crowd pic if someone asked.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

I just caught this thread and had to respond. DH and I are in our late 40's. We don't have children so I don't think anything about taking pictures. I don't take pictures of others children but you are at WDW or DCL. You are never going to get pictures without someone being in them. We take pictures of everything......now I have to worry about someone telling me to delete my pictures because they think their children might be in them.

I took this picture on our cruise in September at the sailaway party. I took it so I had a picture of how crowded it was down there. Now you are telling me I am lucky no one came running up to me saying I was taking pictures of their children and I needed to delete them. Good grief......I could have had a hundred people yelling at me.

Everyone has to do what they need to do but I am not going to be happy if I am taking random pictures and someone decides I am taking pictures of just their child.

I don't think a crowd shot is the same as a stranger taking a photo of your child with a character.

THe original poster asked if it would bother you if someone did the same. She didn't try to start a debate about whether it was right or wrong to have a picture with someone else in it.

 

[WildGrits]

I don't think a crowd shot is the same as a stranger taking a photo of your child with a character.

THe original poster asked if it would bother you if someone did the same. She didn't try to start a debate about whether it was right or wrong to have a picture with someone else in it.

I agree. Non sequitur.

 

[trivial]

It would make me a bit uncomfortable (not that I'd automatically label them as pedophiles), but there's nothing that can be done about it. I would politely say, "May I ask why you're taking pictures of my son/daughter?" But what else can you do?

We were at a pioneer village when I was younger, and a photographer for the local paper came up and asked my parents if he could take a picture of my sister and print her name in the paper. He had his credentials, and my parents agreed (the photo was in the paper the next day). That's the way it should be done... most people would have the sense not to just start taking photos of a child I think.

I have twins and for some reason I feel sometimes I have the only twins in america because people will take pictures of them to show their friends.

Heh, we have 8-month-old twins, and strangers constantly come up to us to talk to/about them (not that we mind; we're quickly getting used to the attention). But it's funny as they'll often call over family members to see them and ask all about them... who'd have thought twins were such a fascinating anomaly?

I took this picture on our cruise in September at the sailaway party. I took it so I had a picture of how crowded it was down there. Now you are telling me I am lucky no one came running up to me saying I was taking pictures of their children and I needed to delete them. Good grief......I could have had a hundred people yelling at me.

Clearly not the same situation.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Wouldn't have bothered me. I would have assumed he wanted pics of the character, not my son. Call me naive (which I'm not, but hey, go for it! LOL), but I don't want to live my life paranoid of everyone I encounter. If he just approached my child and started snapping away without permission, and there was clearly no other reason (character, etc.) for him to want that picture, then I might think differently. I have been approached numerous times by people wanting to take my son's picture and/or publish it somewhere on the internet or in a magazine or newspaper ad/story. One local business used it in their advertising for quite some time. He has also been on the radio and on television (he gets around!). None of this was planned or sought out by me...we are always approached by people in public places who think our son is adorable and want pictures of him--usually at an event. I guess this might be viewed as odd or even dangerous by many people, but he IS really cute, if I do say so myself! We went to Breakfast with Santa a couple weeks ago and Miss Rhode Island posed for a few pictures with him in her lap, then asked if one could be taken with her personal camera. I didn't find it bothersome in the least. Come to think of it, I didn't see her posing with any of the other children present (about 75), but that doesn't mean she's selected him for victimization! So far, people have been courteous enough to ask permission before photographing him, but in the OP's scenario, I would have just chalked it up to him wanting some wide shots of the character. Her little darlings were probably edited out of the picture as soon as he returned home! That's what I do when "stray" people end up in my photos. I don't think it's WRONG to worry about pedophiles taking pictures of your kids; I just choose to take the opposite approach and give people the benefit of the doubt. Especially when my child is fully clothed and there is no OTHER reason to assume the worst. If I saw a guy hiding in the bushes snapping pics of my son in his swim trunks, that would be different!

 

[Finally08]

It wouldn't bug me, but I agree his reaction was BIZARRE.

I have had many people take photos of my dd when we've gone to Wiggles concerts. Usually she was dressed in something custom and cute, so it brought a lot of attention to her. I also had people photograph her at a rodeo we went to, but again she was about 2 and in her cowgirl boots, skirt, and a pink cowgirl hat on.
Sometimes, especially older people (grandparent age, although it's happened with people my age too) just like to take photos of cute kids...I consider it a compliment.

 

[Hixski]

I don't think a crowd shot is the same as a stranger taking a photo of your child with a character.

THe original poster asked if it would bother you if someone did the same. She didn't try to start a debate about whether it was right or wrong to have a picture with someone else in it.

Ahhh, but I have pictures of characters without children and some that have children in them. My point was that you don't always know what someone is taking a picture of. I just wanted to point out how ridiculous this situation could get. Where are some people going to draw the line?????

 

[drakethib]

While in the parks with my wife and daughter, I have taken pictures of other kids having fun in the park with characters and such. Hopefully people do not think I am a freak as I can assure you I am not. If someone had ever asked me to delete a picture, I would apologize to the parent and would do so without hesitation (I do understand other parents concerns). If the picture was taken were my daughter was the focal point and some other kid walked in the photo, I probably would not.

People have taken pictures of my daughter (she is a cutie) while in the parks.

I don't have a problem with it.

Now, with that being said, if I were uncomfortable with someone who looked shady and they began snapping photos of my daughter or my wife I would ask them not to do it again. If they reacted poorly, started screaming at me or whatever, I would get my family out of harms way and attempt to get security involved immediately.

 

[grlpwrd]

I don't think a crowd shot is the same as a stranger taking a photo of your child with a character.

THe original poster asked if it would bother you if someone did the same. She didn't try to start a debate about whether it was right or wrong to have a picture with someone else in it.

Yes, certainly.

Ahhh, but I have pictures of characters without children and some that have children in them. My point was that you don't always know what someone is taking a picture of. I just wanted to point out how ridiculous this situation could get. Where are some people going to draw the line?????

I sense that you are insinuating that some parents are being unreasonable or unrealistic about these situations.

The OP asked a question and we answered. Some people have hidden agendas and I don't have much credence in the intentions of strangers. That is where I draw my line.

 

[theparsons]

I can't help but remember the thread titled something like "what the $*(@# were they thinking" that had pictures of people in odd clothing or clothing that ummmm, shall we say didn't fit very well, as sometimes it didn't quite cover everything it should have....or I remember one of an elderly woman with shall we say elderly skin that was dressed in something that should only be worn by a very fit teenager. Admittedly some of these people were dressed very differently from anything I've ever seen and that "I" would consider many of them strange, but obviously they were comfortable with their "look". But DISers found them unusual enough to not only take their photo but to post it on this forum. I wonder how those people would have felt had they been planning their next vacation and stumbled across this forum and seen their photo and read the often rude things being said about them. While obviously none of DISers posting are likely perverts taking photos for some sick reason, I can't help but wonder why no one got upset about these pictures being posted. Or if the people whose photos were being taken would have reacted the same as some of you. Yes, I agree, it's a little unsettling to have people taking pictures of your children, but I think you need to temper that with the fact that it's a pretty slim chance that someone would take pictures of your kids with an evil purpose from close up....as someone else wrote, those types of people usually have top notch telephoto lenses and would take your photo from 1/2 a block away.

On another subject brought up here....I have identical twin daughters. They have drawn a lot of attention their entire life....and now at 11 years old they still like to dress alike and therefore still get a lot of attention. To you semi-new moms of twins....all I can say is either get used to it, or if it truly bothers you, then don't dress them alike. On the very very few occasions when they haven't been dressed alike no one seems to notice that they look the same and therefore they don't get any attention. I never minded the people who stopped to ask me if they were twins or to tell me they were beautiful (after all I agree, lol). What bothered me were the stupid people...."are they twins" "yes, I answer"....then they proceed to point out every tiny discrepency (like one is "heavier" than the other, or one's hair is slightly shorter (actually it was in a pony tail higher up, lol). My DH gets really frustrated at these people and tends to say something like "if you're so much smarter and know they aren't twins why did you ask". Me, I just smile and say something like "yep, they're each their own person". The comment the girls hated most was "double trouble" because they equate trouble as bad and couldn't understand why a stranger thought they were being bad....so I helped them out by replying "nope, just double the hugs and kisses" or "double the love". So, I guess what I'm saying is you can't stop people from making possibly rude or unwanted comments, but you can turn it around on them and help your children be more comfortable. Whenever the girls have gotten very upset about a comment I remind them that by dressing alike they are drawing attention to themselves....and just like the people we have on occasion "gawked" at with the multi-color hair, or the spiked hair, or the zillion piercing or tattoos or dressed what we consider strangely....if you choose to draw attention to yourself you have to take the bad comments along with the good ones. If you don't like the attention, don't do things to draw that attention. Yet, they still choose to wear identical clothing every time, lol.


Jan

 

[NotUrsula]

Just goes to show that not all perverts are men and we need to be cautious of those around us.

As a former (and sometimes current) hair fondle-ee [is that a word, LOL], I think that calling an elderly woman a pervert just because she is curious about the way "white" hair feels is a bit extreme. Hair like this is really unknown in some cultures, and inspires great curiousity when first encountered. Yes, she was wrong not to resist temptation after being asked not to touch it again, but I don't think it's necessarily perverted to be curious about the texture of hair that you have never seen in person before.

I've got straight strawberry-blond hair, and strangers have been touching it all of my life, old ladies and young children, especially. When I worked in an inner-city school back in my grad school days when my hair was very long, not a day went by that whole groups of AA kindies didn't have their hands in my hair; they really wanted to know what it felt like. Their grandmothers were often just as curious. People come up to me on the street and ask if they can touch it, and I often feel that little tickle when standing in lines or sitting in theatres at places like WDW. As long as no one is yanking on it, it doesn't bother me, and I'm definitely not scarred by the experience. I've had people touch my freckles, too, to see if they have texture.

 

[baybemama]

I admit that I didn't read all of the replies but I just wanted to say that as a photographer who specializes in portraits of children and photojournalistic wedding photography, I find myself taking pictures of other people (some children, some adults) all the time. While I'm on vacation I'm mostly taking pics of my own children but if I'm looking to take something artsy and candid I'll do some people watching and snap a few.