• by Larissa Faw , April 4, 2018

To coincide with April's National Child Abuse Prevention Month, David&Goliath (D&G) is lending its talent pro bono on behalf of the Child Rescue Coalition (CRC) to raise awareness among parents about overexposing their children on social media.

The @KidsForPrivacy movement replaces 100+ Instagram hashtags, including #pottytraining, #nakedkids and #kidsbathing, with pictures of kids holding “Privacy Please” signs through April 27. The intention is to signal to parents that these posts  serve as flags on social media leading predators to pictures of children.

"We wanted to expose the issue in a way that grabbed the attention of parents without embarrassing or shaming them," says Marcelo Padoca, creative director, D&G. "We knew the campaign needed to be provocative and at the same time educate parents about the dangers of overexposing their kids on social media."

This is the first time CRC has developed a campaign that shines a light on this new topic - sharenting - which is a new phenomenon, says Padoca. "While parents are naively posting intimate photos and details about their children on social media, they have no idea how easily these images can be screenshot and downloaded by predators, who can manipulate, misuse and repost them on other sites. On top of that, this is a huge children’s rights issue, but we can’t alienate parents who are doing this. Most parents truly crave more information to make informed decisions."

Parents are also encouraged to visit the D&G-created Instagram educational hub called @KidsForPrivacy to receive tips on how to protect their kids’ privacy online.

To further raise awareness, D&G and the CRC are introducing a 60-second video narrated by a child to explain the initiative from their point of view. "Now, imagine all those kids in 5 or 10 years from now," says Padoca. "How will they react when they find out their pottytraining pictures are everywhere on the Internet? This campaign shines a very hot spotlight on what parents can do to protect their families."

The video will be posted on the CRC social media channels, on YouTube  and @kidsforprivacy on Instagram.