At the ANW Live Meet Up on Wednesday the conversation naturally turned  to people looking for excuses to dislike naturism or to be against it. And one common excuse that was shared is:

Naturism is OK but not for children - or put another way - Naturists should cover up for the sake of the children. 

This leads to various lines of thought:

Why would naturism be OK for adults but not for children? What do people think it is about?

How disconnected are people from children? Children love being naked themselves and seem almost oblivious of nudity. A child may be great at enbarassing you on a bus- Did you see that person's ....(fill in the blank with anything that could be unusual about a persons face, body or clothing)? But in my experience on a naturist beach they take the human being as a whole and no longer become fascinated by individual aspects.

Why do adults wish to protect their children from becoming aware of the human body? Something that will surely help them with their own development and the acceptance of others. Yet are still happy to allow them to be aware of substance abuse, violence, racism, bad language and a multitude of other aspects of human behaviour that is seen fit for the street, the social media and TV and films? What exactly are they being protected from?

The other thought is that it is just an excuse. Looking for a reason to complain these people chose children because others will naturally want to concur that children need protecting without actually consider what they are being protected from and if it is a wise choice. Protecting children is a trendy issue that gets attention and is therefore used out of comntext and with no good reasons to get people siding with the argument rather than actually considering if the argument has a case. 

So what do you think of these thoughts and what do we do to combat them? Promoting naturism as family friendly and for children is definitely part of it and attempting to get families onto beaches to show their support of naturism and get people pondering - If it is OK for their children then it may be OK for mind. After all when you see a child having a great time that is all the argument we need.     

Well, it is a fact that we live in a world that is decidedly more dangerous than it was 50 years ago. My wife and I have talked about how, when we were kids, we left the house in the morning on a Saturday, and didn't return until we got hungry and our parents weren't fretting about where we were and if we were ok. However, many folks have gone overboard in their protection, in that they hover over and dote over their children to the point where they aren't allowed to experiment with life and exercise their imagination. So there is that.

When it comes to the nudity question... our daughter has a two-year-old girl. She loves to be naked and spends most of her day that way. When weather allows, our daughter and her husband are naked around the house also. The granddaughter tries to go out for a walk naked and Mom has to convice her that clothes have to be worn for that. They don't hide anything and when they talk about parts of the body or body functions, they don't use baby talk.  For example, a vagina is just that; not a "hoo-ha" or any other silly euphemism. These are very intelligent people, with a daughter of two who has the vocabulary of the average 4 year old. This is parental wisdom.

I (Rob) started working as a counsellor with teenagers back in 1999, I actually started as a volunteer working with the charity Childline. At that time a wave of hysteria was going around the country, driven by the media, and focused on Child abuse. There had been a big case that focused around so called Satanic rituals, and as a result many families were torn apart, due to some who were ridged in their views, and no matter where they looked, they saw child abuse. As I look back now, I am reminded of the levels of hysteria created by the witch trials of the 1600’s.

 

It was later proven that there was no such outbreak, and many of the families who lost their children were proven to be innocent, but it was too late, the media had taken over the narrative and unfortunately, they planted a seed that has stuck even up until this day. I remember talking at the time to a seasoned professional, who told me. “To be honest, it has always happened, but in truth, the figures of children actually abused, has hardly moved in twenty years.”

 

What had changed, was the reporting, as before that, it was something that was pushed under the rug and not spoken of. Once the press got involved, and they added their spin, it exploded. The press were no better than those individuals that saw abuse wherever they looked, and caused the problem in the first place. The biggest factor of this, was that every parent and adult, became hyper sensitive towards children and the risk of abuse, and it has bred in the minds of people ever since. “Abuser” has become possibly the most terror inducing label you can give to someone, and it drives great fears within the population, which is where we are at today.

 

The simple truth is, if your personality is abusive, it matters not whether you are a teacher, reporter, social worker, postman, business man or naturist, you will seek to abuse. If you have a personality tilted towards Hysteria, you will see all manner of things to drive that very factor, that is a fact of life.

 

These kinds of people are very few in number, but they do make such a fuss, and are so vocal and loud, they do grab attention. Many people fear being pointed out and labelled, because everyone knows, the press who care not about facts, will attack and crucify anyone labelled, which is a large reason why people fear the subject of children, including, a great many naturists. Too many clubs and societies have shied away from children and become adult only, and that in itself has helped to heighten the fears of people around the issues of naturism.

 

There is a societal double standard in play here, because “Media” no longer means just press, it also included social media, and its pervasive corruption of people’s mind sets with the aim of driving revenue. On social media there are many mixed messages, and one of them, is to sexualise everything with the means to drive sales by making things appear to be trendy and cool. One of those which I hate with a passion, and have spoken out against many times, putting me in Facebook Jail, is the sexualisation of children for profit.

 

Rin and Myself have an almost 14yrs old daughter (Windmill Girl) and one of my biggest concerns is child’s clothing, which to be honest, is the same as adult’s clothing, which is highly sexualised. When did we start dressing 10yrs olds like sexually active 20yrs olds? It is now common place to allow children aged 10-14 to have a social media account, where they dress **** and wear makeup. They get subscribers, who finance their lives through platforms like Patreon or Paypal. Adults pay a monthly subscription, to watch young children flaunt themselves in sexually provocative poses, and yet this is considered acceptable. For myself, who has been witness to the darker side of this from my counselling work, I find it completely unacceptable. I find it offensive, that in some countries people who wish to self identify, can label themselves as M.A.P. (Minor Attracted Person.) This is accepted, and I would speculate, a gateway to other thoughts, and all of it is driven as normal on Social Media… I can never accept that, and yet by the same chalk, we often hear asked. “What about the children?”

 

These very people who point the finger and have no clue at all about what is and what is not right for children still ask, and yet will happily accept the sexualisation of children in every supermarket child clothes section on the planet. It is the greatest example of modern hypocrisy.

 

So, what about the children?

 

Kids hate clothes… Full Stop! Kids are the perfect example of what innocence should be, and when you take them away from social media and allow them to grow up naturally free from the subversive culture we are encouraging today, they are never sexual.

 

Kids do not see any difference between themselves and other adults when in a naturist situation, they just look, and think “Cool, more people to hang out, and play with.” Children are natural naturists, they love to play and join in with as many others as possible, because kids have only one agenda, “Comfortable Fun.”   

 

This year I travelled with my family to Cornwall, where we all had two naturist beach days, (Our first ever) and for both of those days, I watched one particular little fellow who I found to be an inspiration. I called him “The Little Guy” and I taught him how to fly a kite properly, and it was one of the best days of my holiday. It was just us two, on the beach as the others did their thing, and what really inspired me, was how natural and open he was to simply living and enjoying the moment. Both of us were naked, chatting and giggling, and it was wonderful. It mattered not what our age was or that both of us were naked on a naturists beach, all that mattered, was that we connected as two people enjoying the simple pleasure of watching the kite bob on the breeze. Kids simply enjoy the comfort of an authentic and natural life. The little guy taught me a great deal about naturism that day, because he set an example all men could follow about owning himself, and the moment.

 

A child’s natural instinct, is authenticity, and when their heads are not filled with the stupidity and hypocritical views of adults, that is exactly what they are, and their state of dress should never be an issue. Do children need to be protected, I would say a very loud yes!? But not from nudity, but from those who seek to corrupt them and exploit them, and the top of the list I would compile would not be “Child Sex Abuser.” It would be Snap Chat, Tik Tok, You Tube, Facebook, and Instagram, I know from the stats, child sex abusers are much less of a threat.

 

Just to throw my twopence into the hat, I would say, stop trying to put adult values on children, and simply allow them to be exactly what they want to be, “Children.”

 

Naturisum is for everyone, and that includes kids. I know from experience of not just what I have learned from working with people who protect children, but as a father. A child who can express themselves with or without clothing, is a happy natural child. In the rush to remove innocence, we are actually harming children. When a child gets to see every shape and size of the naked form, they understand they are apart of that, and are scientifically proven to be better more rounded individuals as adults. They are less likely to suffer an eating disorder, and less likely to become depressed, and I would argue, it is the same for adults.

 

I once worked with a 27yrs old female of two children who suffered from depression, who was obsessed with Instagram and selfies, she told me. “I am so lost, I no longer know who I am, and have no idea how to get back to me.” I told her. “Watch your daughters, they will show you.”

 

Society has it backwards, we should stop putting pressure on children to act and look like adults. Us adults, should be watching the children, and learning how to be authentic human beings again.

I'm pretty sure that the **** clothing on children 'thing' started in the early 80s, when Brooke Shields (then a minor) was photographed for an ad, wearing Calvin Cline jeans and nothing else, with her long hair covering her developing breasts. First there was a BIG backlash, a very loud and indignant outcry, then it sort of went away and they got away with it. After that, there weren't many holds still barred. 
Thanks for your post, Rob. Very enlightening and poignant.

I have to edit here, to print a retraction.  She wasn't entirely topless. She was wearing a shirt with only one button done, acting as though she was in the process of also unbuttoning that one. Still considered way too **** for a minor back then (I believe she was 15).

Answer to the original question, by ChatGPT: