Small school photo victory!

MaddyZangles

MaddyZangles

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Maddy Rogers
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l had a letter last week saying my daughter was in the school play, and l could order (free) tickets.

Then there was a line telling me that, due to child protection laws, photography would not be allowed. :suspect:

Well, knowing what a load of squit that was, l called the school and spoke to their child protection officer. l asked her why the school was lying to parents.
She admitted there were no such laws after some pressure, and then told me that actually, the school were only following the rules set by the local authority.

So l called them too...the school policy department no less. The lady there told me there are no such rules...for any school...and the council simply give advice, and any policy in place is 100% down to the school.

So then l spoke to the school head teacher. She told me her hands are tied...some parents have not given permission for their child to be photographed, and it is a case of either exclude their kids from performances, or have a blanket ban on photography. :shake:

Hardly fair on the majority, l said. She agreed, but didn't see what she could do. :shrug:

l then asked her how many of the kids in the cast were on the 'refused permission' list. She didn't know, but said she would find out.

A couple of hours later, she called me back. There were 4 kids who's parents had not given permission, so she called them. All of them gave their permission for photo's to be taken if they were simply by other parents. :thumbs:

Now the school have said that every time there is an event by the kids that parents can attend, they will go through the same process! There will only be a ban if there is a parent who still will not give permission!

Result!!! :clap:
 
Well done - common sense at last.

My grandson was in a school play and no photography was allowed - you can buy the DVD for £5 though, and no parents were asked if they agreed or not :thinking:
 
I wonder what the outcome would have been if it had been a Father of a child?

Also sounds like the 4 parents hadn't responded rather than not given permission.

Well done for your persistence.
 
Well done...and well-followed through! Just goes to show what a bit of perseverence can achieve.

I have a feeling you just smelt blood fairly early on and enjoyed the hunt :)
 
Thats outrageous! l'd be just as annoyed by that policy. :bang:

Before they resolved the issue, l did say that if l couldn't take any pictures, then l would insist that neither did they.

l didn't get an answer to that!
 
Well done :clap:

I wonder if they should have made you jump through a few more hoops though, honestly!
 
julian_fraser said:
Well done...and well-followed through! Just goes to show what a bit of perseverence can achieve.

I have a feeling you just smelt blood fairly early on and enjoyed the hunt :)
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Yes, and what got my nostrils flaring was the lie about child protection laws. To be honest, if the letter had simply said it was school policy l don't think l would have got the bit between my teeth as l did.
 
Bazza155 said:
I wonder what the outcome would have been if it had been a Father of a child?

Also sounds like the 4 parents hadn't responded rather than not given permission.

Well done for your persistence.
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l wondered that too....although l think what swayed things, and got me taken seriously, rather than fobbed off, was me telling them l am a tog by profession :lol:, and knew about such laws. :rules:

l think it is likely a chap using the same line would have had the same result.
 
well blinking done you that is brilliant of only there was more people like you around. i may even quote you on this in fact to some friends of mine that have kids of this age
 
Suvv said:
Well done - common sense at last.

My grandson was in a school play and no photography was allowed - you can buy the DVD for £5 though, and no parents were asked if they agreed or not :thinking:
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There's your answer...

Bazza155 said:
I wonder what the outcome would have been if it had been a Father of a child?
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Not sure what you mean here. I'm a father and get asked by the school to do loads of photography. They have an opt-out policy for children but it only covers public photos (ie to be freely available), not parents or school portfolio stuff.

MaddyZangles said:
Before they resolved the issue, l did say that if l couldn't take any pictures, then l would insist that neither did they.

l didn't get an answer to that!
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Good call :thumbs:
 
gumbo-67 said:
well blinking done you that is brilliant of only there was more people like you around. i may even quote you on this in fact to some friends of mine that have kids of this age
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Yes, do so! lt was good to know that it is always down to the schools...so if you are not happy with their policy...challenge it!
 
SimonTALM said:
Maddy - you are a hero and a woman after my own heart :thumbs:

I do wonder if rather than an opt-in approach an opt out approach is the way all schools should go (especially as letters can easily be lost on the trip from school to home and back)
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Thanks. :thumbs:

The school send out a letter asking if they give permission through the year...yes or no being the options. No stipulations.

A massive majority say yes. What annoys me is that those who say no often do so out of a stupid knee jerk reaction to media rubbish and hype about perceived dangers. :bang:
 
Interesting indeed we had a competition for a local cheerleading group recently and no photog was allowed for this same reason apart from a pro who then sold the pics for an astronomical amount for what I can only describe as average to below average shots.
 
Well done for the small victory this seems to be happening more often lately no photo's ant scool events then they print a picture of all the school in the local paper:shrug:
 
Right, i know where to come when i need someone to fight my battles! :)

Good on you mate.
 
Next year's battle - one parent refuses to give permission. You now have to get all the other parents together and make sure that only parents who will give permission have children in the play. We're then back to a sane and sensible world.
 
MisterE said:
Next year's battle - one parent refuses to give permission. You now have to get all the other parents together and make sure that only parents who will give permission have children in the play. We're then back to a sane and sensible world.
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Yes, although some have protection orders over them, so if that is the case, nothing can be done to get around that, and it must be respected. Chances are slim though!
 
POAH said:
no such problem at my son's school.
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same here.
Daughter was in her first school play yesterday, no problems taking pics or videoing it.
Same with sports day, though i did get some funny looks from other parents since i was using a D80 with a 70-200f/2.8 fitted
 
What I really resent is the knee jerk blanket ban.

Can somebody honestly point to a single case where a pedophile has been convicted for having images of kids in a school play or sports day. Do they really get a kick from this, I find it somewhat unlikely. I think the kind of images they are interested in would be rather more graphic!

I recently found a picture of me (at my parents house) taken back in the 1960's at my infants school. We were playing in a giant paddling pool, boys and girls, all naked (but with nothing significant showing). Not something that would be acceptable now but an interesting observation of more innocent times.

I wanted to take some photos of my 16 year old daughter in her play last night, but my wife told me not to take a camera as she was concerned what other parents would say and I hadn't checked in advance....

Well done for sticking up for something that should never be an issue in the first place.
 
My son had his first ever nativity play at nursery last week. I took my camera 'just in case' although was fully prepared to be asked not to use it. As it turns out there were so many flashes going off throughout the play and camcorders being used that it looked like papparazzi had turned up! Almost every parent was taking pics/footage.
 
Well done.

My son is just over 1 year old, so it's good to know common sense can rise above all the paranoia.

I would be gutted if I was not allowed to photograph my son during school plays etc.
 
Well done to you Maddy !!

As a teacher, these crazy rules on photography annoy the hell outta me!

At our place, we have an opt out policy - parents are asked to write a letter stating why they do not want their children to be photographed. The amount of parents who have written in - ZERO ! It's amazing how people can't be bothered to protest about something when they have to do a little more than tick a box ;)

Good on you for taking it to the LEA and I hope you got some nice images to remember the start of your daughter's acting career!

Anth
 
Yes some lovely shots, although l have promised not to use them anywhere. Fair enough.

l fail to see how a photo of a child in the 'wrong' hands could possible harm that child?

Aside from legal issues, adopted kids etc, how would it hurt my child of a some sicko got his rocks off to a picture of a kid on a swing for example?

l don't get it, l really don't.
 
Nice, fortunately my sons school was sensible, I didn’t ask (its usually easier not to) but I heard someone else ask and they said something like “as long as its only for personal use and not for publication / sale etc” –which is right as then you would need permission by law anyway. This up a point, I don’t think your battle is ended, what about when someone does object then it will be game over but it shouldn’t be (well its up to the school), the school only NEEDs permission if the pictures are to be printed commercially etc so the fact that your school is applying this to all is still a bit annoying (or will be as soon as some paranoid parent says no).

Yes the school can apply such rules but I think they are undue. Surely if there is a P**** parent they need to worry more about their position of a child than their possession of a camera.
 
MaddyZangles said:
l fail to see how a photo of a child in the 'wrong' hands could possible harm that child?

Aside from legal issues, adopted kids etc, how would it hurt my child of a some sicko got his rocks off to a picture of a kid on a swing for example?

l don't get it, l really don't.
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That has always been my view too. Although you may not like the idea, there is no way a child can be harmed by anyone owning a photograph of him/her.

I have a twelve year old daughter and I really couldn't care less if someone was out taking pictures and she appeared in one or more of them or if she appeared in pictures taken by people at school events.


Steve.
 
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