BECAUSE MY FAMILY COMES FIRST
With Huggies®, SarahKate Scott knows the basics are sorted so she can spend quality time with her boys
Sarah-kate Scott, who describes herself as a dedicated, obsessive and loving mom, has a big heart and a full diary, but playing mom to her two busy boys is the part of her day that she enjoys the most. “My family are the most important part of my life,” says Sarah-kate.
Little Matthew joined the close knit Scott family in September 2013. Big brother Mark takes every chance he can get to kiss his little brother, while mom and proud dad, Darren Scott, enjoy seeing this little person take shape before their very eyes. “I enjoy my mornings with the family, waking up a little earlier to savour the calm before the chaos,” says the beautiful mom who was recently the winner of the Mrs South Africa competition.
Apart from her role as mom, Sarah-kate is a model and entrepreneur. She is also involved in various charities and owns a bespoke gifting company The Turquoise Tiara, so her working hours accommodate precious family time. “My boys will always know that they are my absolute priority and that is why I always try and do the very best for them,” says SarahKate. “Matthew is so full of energy and fun and I don’t want anything to interfere with him exploring his surroundings – especially not an uncomfortable nappy. I’ve used Huggies® since his birth and so I was very happy to find out about the new improved Huggies® Gold for Boys and Girls nappies. These nappies absorb liquid away from his skin within seconds and he just loves the Mickey Mouse design!” Furthermore, the new innovative Drytouch™ liner draws in wetness and distributes it evenly within the nappy’s core, and it also has a softer, more flexible waistband.
Huggies® further expanded their innovation by introducing a new Baby Wipes range, challenging the status quo by offering moms a wipe which is different from anything else on the market. The new Huggies® Baby Wipes are made from three layers of a unique cotton-like material, providing a great wipe that is thick, soft and absorbent to clean skin quickly and lock away any mess. Available in three variants: Huggies® Newborn, suitable for newborn delicate skin and babies with sensitive skin; Huggies® Natural care with Aloe & Vitamin E, offering a natural protection and Huggies® Simply Clean with Cucumber scent for everyday cleaning and freshness. Huggies® products are available at most major retailers and Huggies® Gold for Boys and Girls comes in sizes 3 (6-10kg), size 4 (8-14kg), Size 4+ (12 -16kg) and size 5 (15+kg) in a bag or megabox option.
on Instagram, you automatically give them the rights to that image,” Emma points out. Likewise, when you sign up to tweet, you give Twitter the right to use, change and distribute your photos, writing or videos to any other forms of media or distribution method it wishes.
That’s just the legal usage of your photos that you’ve agreed to, however unwittingly. Bear in mind that anyone who is able to view your images can easily copy and paste it, leaving your photos wide open to misuse. And if the worst should happen and your child’s photo ends up on an illegal child pornography site, there’s not much you can do about it, says Emma. “It’s very difficult and very expensive to try take action against child pornography sites. To put it into perspective, I’ve had adult clients who have changed their names because their pictures have landed up on adult porn sites, simply because that was the easier option. That’s for a legal site – just imagine how difficult it is to take action against an illegal child porn site.”
THEIR RIGHT TO PRIVACY
The other issue parents should consider before uploading that cute bath photo is whether they are violating their child’s right to privacy (and ensuring future embarrassment to boot), however unintentionally it’s done. Stephanie believes it is a clear violation. “Just as couples might take naked photos of each other for fun, it is only fun when it is held within that particular relationship of trust – as soon as it is in the public arena the fun evaporates and it becomes a violation,” she explains.
She adds that we shouldn’t think our children are blissfully unaware of what we’re doing behind our laptops either. “A child becomes quite techno savvy at a young age – if a five-year-old sees himself on the screen, he may not understand the social media impact but he will certainly question why he is on your screen, naked.”
And your child will have every right to be angry or embarrassed by this, says Stephanie. “As they mature, they need to be able to state their personal boundaries about what they feel comfortable with. If you, as parents, are not modelling that for them they are going to have a very skewed idea of trust, betrayal and truth.”
Professor Ann Skelton, director of the Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria, says that a child’s right to privacy in the social media sphere is an ethical issue which every parent should consider. “It is important that parents should think about the fact that their children are separate people from them, and not just extensions of themselves. We make a lot of decisions for our children, especially when they are very young, and this needs to be done with a thoughtful attitude, not a frivolous one.”
For Emma, the best way to decide whether or not to post any photo online, but especially nude or semi-nude photos of your children, is to apply this litmus test to each image: “Would I invite a total stranger into my house, open up my album and show them this photo? If the answer’s no, then don’t post it.” YB