Isabelle Daza now thinks twice before posting photos and videos of her one-year-old son Balthazar on social media.
The celebrity mom has learned from a psychologist that “oversharing” about a child’s life online can lead to self-esteem issues in the future.
She said during a parenting forum in May, “I talked to a psychologist about this, and I asked him, ‘How much is oversharing?’ What are the dangers of social media exposing your child too much to social media? How does it happen ba?”
The daughter of 1969 Miss Universe Gloria Diaz gave an example.
She continued, “…In summary, he says, when you say, post an experience you and your child have… let’s say, I take Balthazar.
“He hits somebody, right, and I post that video of him. And then his classmates see him and says, ‘Hey, look, you’re so naughty. You hit someone. I saw your photo.’
“The psychologist explained that the child, he loses his own self-identity, so he starts to have self-doubt.
“And from that classmate, from that interaction, he says, ‘Is that who I am?’
“And that defines him, what other people think of him, and what other people see of him.”
Isabelle said the video could only have been ten seconds of his day, but it “will make an impact on who he is.
“The psychologist was saying that when mothers overshare what their children are doing, they don’t realize the effects now.
“But later on, it will happen and that, for me, was an enlightening moment.”
Since then, she has started putting a limitation to Baltie’s social-media exposure.
“I wanna post every minute that I find my son is cute, annoying, or whatever.
“And I just restrain because, again, he says, your child will lose his sense of self-identity.”
Isabelle wants her son to grow up in an environment where he is comfortable with the person he is.
“I’m really trying to think of a way on how we can shift the thought and kind of bring back the conversation to joy, especially with my son.
“I don’t want him to feel pressured to grow up to be anyone else but himself, so something super simple.
“I tell him is ‘You’re enough. You don’t have to be anyone else. You can rest in my love, you don’t have to earn it.’ That’s what I tell him every day…
“Of course, everyone wants the best for their child. Who doesn’t, right? (FM Ganal, pep)