If you’ve ever donated books to Goodwill or plan to, this expert has an urgent PSA for you—and it’s about child safety.
In a new TikTok that has garnered over 7,554 views as of this writing, content creator and family therapist Christina Hall (@thechristinahall) warns about the personal information written in some books and urges parents to be more careful about what they choose to donate to Goodwill.
What’s the problem?
“This is the second time I’ve got this book from this specific Goodwill,” Hall begins, holding up a copy of The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book, an activity book of prompts and questions for children to fill out based on the wildly successful Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney.
Hall shares that while the first time she bought the book accidentally, this time she purposefully looked inside the book and purchased it “to keep this child safe.”
Inside the activity book are countless personal details about the child, who identifies themself on the first page as “Ariel.” The child’s full address is also provided. “I could go straight to her house right now,” Hall says.
Other information in the book includes the child’s “favorite things,” “finest moments,” her dreams, “five things nobody knows about [her],” the rules in her family, her nightmares, the “scoop” on her classmates, details about her brother, a map of where on her body she has endured injuries, and much more.
Most concerning for Hall, however, was a section entitled “Your Autobiography.” This section tells where the child was born, her exact birthday, and her weight and height at birth. The section continues, getting “very, very detailed.”
“I bought this to keep this child safe,” Hall says, “so I can make sure I tear up each and every one of these pages and throw this book away.”
“Who knows who would’ve bought this book? And had all this little girl’s information?” Hall poses.
As the video ends, Hall sends a final warning: “Please be careful when you are donating. If it’s something your child filled out, it doesn’t need to be donated. Nobody needs this.”
@thechristinahall ♬ 10 minutes, meditation, sleep, mindfulness, night(951759) – Gloveity
Viewers weigh in
In the comments section, viewers expressed shock and gratitude for the heads-up.
“Never thought about people donating books that kids wrote in! Good catch,” one viewer wrote.
“Omg never thought about this!! So scary!!” a second viewer expressed.
“I would take it to her house. It is a keepsake that the parent donated without realizing what they were giving up,” suggested a third commenter.
“Crazy that a parent would donate that book with all that information inside. Scary!” Came a fourth comment.
Should she return or destroy the book?
In a follow-up video, Hall shares that while she will not be returning the book to Goodwill or simply mailing the book to the address provided by the child, she will likely go to the home in person to confirm the child still lives there and offer the parents the book back.
“I’m thinking they thought it was just a regular Diary of a Wimpy Kid book … and they didn’t look through it before they donated it,” she reasons.
Hall says that if she mails the book and the family has moved, she’d essentially be handing the child’s information over to another stranger. She also says that when she alerted workers at the Goodwill where she got the book about the situation, employees told her that they do not check books for personal information before they sell them and the book would continue to be on display for sale.
Viewers were divided on what Hall should do.
“Burn it. It won’t be received well if you go to the house,” one person advised.
“I would take it to the police and just say I found this book at Goodwill and wanted to return it to the correct people due to a child’s personal information on it,” a second viewer recommended.
Can you get a donated item back from Goodwill?
Overall, people should be careful when choosing what they donate to Goodwill, as once it’s gone, it’s gone. According to a Virginia Goodwill location, “Once an item is donated there is no way to retrieve the item again. In many cases, items donated are on the sales floor within 15 minutes.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Christina Hall and Goodwill via email for more information.
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