Councilwoman Laís Leão (PDT) filed a request for information for Curitiba City Hall to clarify the possible exclusion of students from educational activities due to parents and guardians not authorizing the use of children's images. The request also questions the purpose of seeking authorization to use students' images and voices in institutional advertising or on the social networks of authorities.
This week, mothers of students at Municipal Early Childhood Education Centers (CMEIs) told Plural that they were instructed to sign the document, or their children could be left out of activities that include images, such as art classes, internal exhibitions, and even roll call at the CMEIs, where badges with students' photos and names are used.
The authorization sent to parents and guardians at the beginning of the school year covers students' images "for the purpose of use in video lessons, as well as in the City Hall's institutional media and social networks and the personal networks of municipal authorities, other media, online and offline, already existing or that may come to exist, entirely free of charge, with nothing to be claimed or received." The same document addresses classroom activities and the dissemination of children's images for institutional or personal advertising purposes.
The deadline for sending the responses is 15 business days, extendable by another 15. The questions posed by Councilwoman Laís Leão:
- Whether the Municipal Department of Education (SME) confirms the existence of guidance or practices in units of the municipal network that restrict or prevent participation in activities due to the non-signing of the authorization form;
- What is the purpose of the form sent to families, especially regarding the possibility of using students' images and voices in institutional publicity content or on the social networks of public authorities?
- What institutional purposes are envisaged for the use of images and voices of children in the municipal school network, as well as the timeframes for storage, dissemination, and possible disposal of these records;
- Whether the SME has formal guidelines or instructions to ensure that students whose guardians do not authorize the use of image and voice are not excluded, embarrassed, or prevented from participating in educational activities.
Rosiane Correia de Freitas
The authorization seeks to regularize a practice that was already common during Rafael Greca's (PSD) administration. A report published by Plural in 2023 showed that, of every 11 posts by the then mayor on social networks, one displayed images of children. One third were records of visits to schools and CMEIs.
