Online privacy is a real thing, yes. But if it’s within a small group and the intention is clear, is it forgivable to post photos of children?

Well, in OP’s defense, she did blur their faces.

What do you think? Read the full story and then you decide.

I live in a densely populated suburban HOA-run thing.

I have like 40 houses within a 5-minute walk from mine.

There is one large Facebook group for the entire community with around 4k members, and a smaller one for my part with about 180.

They are both private and require proof of residence for admission. I only mention this because it is relevant to the situation.

Kids love playing on OP’s property.

For like a year now, there have been a group of kids using my property as their personal hangout since I am at a corner spot of 3 roads, with a large area of grass and steps.

While those bits are the HOA’s property, everyone signs an agreement with the HOA to maintain their adjoined common area.

If it was just the hangouts, I would be fine. Kids are kids and all that.

Sometimes, their behaviors get really annoying.

However, they dump their trash, leave their toys, turn over paving stones, damage plants to the point of needing replacement…

All on both my lawn and the HOA’s lawn which I am responsible for.

I have not said anything to anyone about it because of the nasty attitudes towards complaints I see in those FB groups, and I do not vibe with my neighbors here enough to know most of them (whole other story).

OP couldn’t take it anymore.

I reached a snapping point, though, when two of the younger kids I sort of recognize from this group smashed a glass ornament on my front porch, then ding-dong-ditched.

I could care less about the latter, but that glass ornament was something sentimental I’d saved from my mother’s house.

I tried to run out and talk to them, but they ran for the woods, so I didn’t see what house they belonged to, and I don’t personally know their parents.

So, he did what he had to do.

I posted a photo of them from my doorbell cam to the smaller of the FB groups, with their faces partially blurred.

All I said was that I didn’t expect a reply, but this has been going on for a while, and could whoever please talk to these kids and maybe inform the parents of the other kids who these two hang out with?

30 seconds later in rapid succession, I got a reply, a DM, and a knock at my door.

Their mother was not pleased.

The mother of the boys yelled at me for having posted their photo “to the entire internet,” and went on for about 10 minutes straight without letting me get a word in edgewise.

I took down the photo as asked, but I never got a chance to explain the rest of what I was hoping to achieve.

She said something about how if I wanted recourse, then I needed to “be a neighbor,” and magically know who to talk to, I guess.

Also, she weirdly kept pushing offers to pay for what they broke, which was pointless, and I refused money.

OP tried to explain. Was he wrong?

Of what I did manage to say to her, I told her that I understood her privacy concerns, but that’s why I blurred their faces, and kept it to that smaller group, but she still claimed it was public to the whole internet (it’s not).

The mother was mentioning that her own FB profile was public with photos AND names of her kids—as seen from her DM.

She now thinks I am stalking her, that I am claiming the HOA area as mine (I wasn’t), and weirdly still hasn’t changed her profile privacy?

AITA here?

Let’s see what other people have to say about it.

This user says to involve the cops instead.

This one says it’s fine.

Another suggestion from this user.

Ooh, sprinklers!

Good insight from this user.

Kids will be kids, but moms should know when their children are being brats.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.