Mom posts pic of baby with bong on Facebook

This might well be a case of someone who wasn't entirely au fait with her Facebook privacy settings. Yes, not everyone knows about how easy they are. Or even that they exist. It could also be a case of someone doing something very stupid. Or perhaps both.According to Channel 4 News in Jacksonville, Fla., a 19-year-old mother in Florida took a picture of her 11-month-old son with his mouth over a bong. Just as these things sometimes happen on Facebook, someone saw it and passed it on. The Web being the Web, it kept being passed on until it ended up in the hands of both Channel 4 and the Florida Department of Children and Families.Channel 4 tracked the woman down and, in an e-mail exchange, the mother reportedly said: "If you look at the picture you can see that there is no bowl in the TABACCO (sic) pipe."

(Credit: Facebook via CBS News)

Did she really appreciate the ramifications of posting something on Facebook?Well, she told Channel 4: "And I took a pic to show one f****** person and it was a mistake. I would never, ever let him get high.However, her further messages to Channel 4 suggest she is only now beginning to appreciate the gravity of the situation."Do you realize how serious this is? I can go to jail and he can be taken away from me," she reportedly wrote.John Harrell of the Florida Department of Children and Families confirmed to Channel 4 that his department is launching an investigation and said: "We would never leave a child in a home where there were serious concerns whether the child was safe."Regretfully, regardless of whether someone might find this picture funny or not, the mother does appear to be a little confused.

(Credit: CC Jay Cameron/Flickr)

She wrote to Channel 4: "Why would you do something so f****** stupid? I know what I did was stupid, but I would never put my baby in harm."Then she reportedly concluded: "I'm so nice to everyone, so i don't know why you would do this to me."Perhaps the Department of Children and Families will explain in person Friday as the mother was reportedly to undergo a drugs evaluation while her son was to be seen by a pediatrician. It's the social side of social networking that can sometimes be disturbing to society. What used to be private human behavior is now potentially open to the beady scrutiny of others. With sometimes very difficult consequences.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)