The parents I babysit for are furious I uploaded a photo of their child

"And I secretly recorded them begging me to take it down."

"Why are you even following me?" the babysitter asked the dad. Photo: iStock

There's never been more conversation than there is now about kids' safety online - especially the increasing practice of parents posting photos of their children in both public and private forums.

Which is why it's utterly astounding that one babysitter this week posted a photo of the child she was caring for (not even her own child), without any parental consent - and then was defensive when confronted by the dad.

In fact, she went so far as to accuse him of being "weird" for following her account... which we all now know about after a secret recording of their conversation went viral online.

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"The parents were in shock"

The babysitter recorded the dad confronting her, presumably as evidence of his 'over-reaction' - and the footage of it has made its way to the account @itsgone viral.

This is how the conversation goes:

"You shouldn't be posting photos of my children on Instagram."

"She looks really cute in it."

"She does look really cute but why are you putting it on public? Anyone could be looking at her."

The sitter then asserts that the dad shouldn't be worried because it's "just her face," with no other identifying information. Which is not true, and also not the point.

"It's my child," the dad repeats.

This is when the sitter digs a bigger hole for herself. "Why are you even following me?" she asks the dad.

"You don't follow your babysitter, that's weird," she says, pointing out that she's 16. But the dad isn't buying it.

"Well I do follow my babysitter and it's just as well I am. We're not paying you until you remove the photo," he says, insisting she hands him her phone.

"Well, I'll just stay here until you do," the teen responds defiantly. "Why have you even got Instagram?"

The dad keeps asking her to take down the photos and promises to pay her immediately after that. By the end, he's remains patient - but is begging.

Source: Twitter

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"I follow my babysitter too"

The comments section was absolutely on the dad's side.

"I follow my babysitter, I need to know who I have watching my kids," said one parent.

"That’s his kid! He has the right to tell you to not post pics of his kid! Babysitter is def gaslighting him and she is in the wrong," added another.

Others agreed the babysitter was the worst.

"The worst part is that she didn’t even ask and then she is shaking him down after a reasonable request," one noted.

Many viewers were angry that the teen implied that dad was doing something wrong; as one wrote -"Maybe he follows the babysitter so he knows more about who he is leaving his child with????"

And this comment summed it up perfectly: "She's so entitled. She needs a reality check."

This post was published in May, and updated in August, 2023.

Originally published as The parents I babysit for are furious I uploaded a photo of their child