Jennifer Garner Explains Why She Keeps Her Children Out of the Public Eye

Jennifer Garner is opening up about her family and why she keeps her children out of the public eye.

The 47-year-old actress, who worked with Halle Berry years ago to make the world safer for the children of celebrities, chatted with InStyle for the mag’s 25th anniversary issue.

“It’s so gnarly to be a kid now. I guard my kids’ privacy as much as I possibly can, and I’ve never posted pictures of them on Instagram. I used to refuse to say their names during interviews — but everyone knows their names!” Jen said in the interview. “I would just say ‘my eldest,’ which I still do out of habit a lot. I’m sure there are times my kids would really love to see themselves reflected on my social media in a fun way and to have the attention they would get from that. But I’ve fought too hard against it. It would feel hypocritical.”

“There’s no implied judgment of people who do put their kids up there; I just don’t think most kids have been hounded in the way that mine were when they were little. We were completely hounded 24/7 for 10 solid years, and it changes you. You no longer take things like being able to go to your mailbox for granted. I even stopped going to the farmers market because I was being photographed there constantly,” she added. “I realized, ‘I’m ruining the farmers market for everyone; this is selfish.’ [laughs]”

Jen and ex-husband Ben Affleck are the parents of three kids – Violet, 13, Seraphina, 10, and Samuel, 7. These photos were taken during one of the kids’ only public appearances, which was at Jennifer‘s Hollywood Walk of Fame star unveiling ceremony last year.