This is probably the most discussed topic when it comes to nudism, among nudists and even more among textiles. Every nudist blogger around has at some point written an article about family nudism and nudism with children. Now that the nudist lifestyle appears in the news now and then, even the regular media starts talking about it.
Is it okay to introduce your children into the nudism?
Is it okay to let your children run around naked?
Is it okay for your children to see naked adults?
Is it okay that adults see your child naked?
Now that the walls around the nudists are slowly crumbling down and nudism is getting accepted by the majority or at least not so much frowned upon, child nudism is still a taboo.
And even though this topic is so well covered, we still thought that we had to share our 2 cents about this. But it’s not easy because we can understand both sides. Although one side takes the upped hand… Indeed… The nudist side.
The cons of family nudism
We have to protect our children, no doubt about that. We don’t want to give them too much sorrows, too much stress so they can enjoy their young years happily.
The major argument against child nudism is of course pedophilia. And this didn’t get any better with the years. When we were kids we had heard about child molesters, they were the awkward men hanging around playgrounds, feeding candy to children and once in a while showing them their “birdie”.
We were told to stay away from those people and that was that.
Now it’s gotten so much bigger. When we watch the news, it seems like on every street corner there’s someone with wrong intentions. Children are approached in chat rooms, kidnapped, raped, sold to dark prostitution networks and never seen again… No wonder people are scared.
So the theory goes: “A naked kid is more attractive to child molesters than a clothed kid, so let’s keep them clothed”. It’s like saying “a kid that often leaves the house has a bigger chance to get hit by a car, so let’s keep them all in” or “corrupt politicians have often studied economics, so we won’t let our kids study that”. Now it suddenly gets a strange taste, right?
There’s a small line between protecting your children and keeping them ignorant.
And then there are the photographs. It’s true, within a blink of an eye someone can take a photo of your naked kid and put it online on some illegal website. Nobody wants their kids appearing there, right? Except when we took the picture ourselves, because people put plenty of photos of their children on Facebook: naked in the bath tub, naked on the beach, naked under the hose or on a sheep’s skin. But that’s only for our friends, we think. We think.
It’s important to note that nudists are a social and protective community. Seriously, this is pure gold. Not only do we try to protect our nudist spaces from perverts, we also protect each other.
Another reason against child nudism is that we shouldn’t raise our children as a minority, because they will get more chances in life when they’re raised more mainstream. Which basically means: Make sure your child is the same as any other child.
And again, there is some truth in this. Kids that are different than the others have a higher chance to get bullied. But in that point of view, it’s impossible to win. Kids get bullied for the strangest things, which clothes they wear, the colour of their hair, because they wear glasses, because they stutter, because they’re larger/smaller/thicker/thinner than the rest. There’s no way you can prevent them from being bullied.
One thing that nudism teaches us is that everybody is the same and that appearance doesn’t really matter. This is important for adults, but even more for children.
This insight doesn’t only give your child a strong personality, but also teaches them the importance of body acceptance and respecting other people. Not only will they stand stronger against bullies, there’s also a much lower chance that they’ll become bullies themselves.
And then there’s sex.
Many people still believe that allowing children to play naked with each other will turn them into little perverts and eventually will result in teenage pregnancy. Even though a nudist culture actually prevents this. By normalising nudity, a naked body isn’t automatically seen as something sexual, so teenagers that have been raised as nudists are less focused on seeing the other person naked. The other person will feel more comfortable because they know that they won’t be expected to look like fake role models from the media or internet. If there’s any comparison at all, it will be with real life role models.
Imagine this: 2 strangers, a boy and a girl, both about 14-15 years old, raised conservative, never seen a naked body in real life so totally dependent on what they saw on TV, internet and in their imagination, are put together naked in a room. What will happen?
For sure there will be a lot of awkward moments, a lot of shame, a lot of staring and 4 red cheeks. What will they talk about? Who knows? Probably not the most interesting topics and certainly with a lot of stuttering…
Will this result in teenage pregnancy? Maybe, maybe not.
Now imagine this: 2 strangers, a boy and a girl, both about 14-15 years old, raised as nudists, used to see naked bodies of all ages and sizes, are put together naked in a room. What will happen?
In fact we didn’t even have to mention that they are naked, because they will react the same as if they were clothed. They will greet each other, have a sit and start talking. They won’t be focused on their or the other person’s nudity, so what they talk about can be anything.
Will this result in teenage pregnancy? Maybe, maybe not.
The pros of family nudism
Actually, we have already covered some of the pros in the previous section. Raising your child as a nudist will help them build a strong personality which will help them fight the uncertainties that are waiting for them when they’ll reach puberty. It will give them a more normalised idea of the naked body which will help them get a clearer idea about what they expect in relationships.
Children are born nudists. Not for the obvious reason that everyone is born naked, but because if you ask any little kid whether they want to be clothed or naked, they will most likely go for the naked option. And until a certain age this is completely accepted. Nobody’s chocked when they see a three year old running around naked on the beach. For a six year old there can be some frowns. And anything above six is just not done. Until this age it’s decent to be naked, afterwards not anymore.
When you think about it, it’s quite strange that a factor like age is used for a situation like this. It doesn’t matter who you are or how you look. When you’ve been running around in the buff for 3 to 6 years, it’s time to get dressed.
Another strange thing is that this is completely dependent on society. The ages we use here are for Europe, but in Bangladesh for example you won’t see a naked kid outside. From birth the children are dressed. In Africa on the other hand it’s not uncommon to see a 12-14 year old running around naked on the beach. And we’re not talking small village Africa here, but the main beach of Accra, the capital of Ghana.
It all makes very little sense.
By assuming nudity as normal within a family, you’re creating an openness that will become present in other facets of the child as well. You create an atmosphere of honesty. This is who we are, this is how we look, we have nothing to hide. It’s a great situation for a child to grow up in.
But… And now we’re getting to the most important part of this article… Don’t put the focus on nudity and don’t force your children into nudism because there might come a moment (typically around puberty) that they will start doubting the lifestyle. Leave them the option, but don’t hide your nudity for them either.
We’re naked and you can be naked too. But if you prefer to be dressed that’s totally fine too.
Of everything we heard and read about this topic, this is the key to a successful nudist family.
Picture credit: The photos in this post are coming from Google and Twitter. If you find one of yourself and you don’t want it to be on our blog, let us know and we’ll remove it.
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Another excellent thought provoking blog. The natural evolved default position of human beings is that we are absolutely fine with nudity. Children are the embodyment of evolved natural instinct because the nurture part hasn’t been given a chance to become significant in the child’s personality. The key moment to observe this state is around 3-5 – independent and driven by instincts. The age of adventure and unfortunately for a parent also the age of seemingly personal invulnerability! Also an age though, when evidence clearly shows without a doubt, that nude is the default state. Only actions of parents, society and a child saying “I’m cold” provide clothing. Environment is the only trigger for clothing; the instinct for self-preservation. All that seems pretty obvious but no; our society has become rediculously confused, driven as it has by 2000 years of collective nurture. It seems odd then that we have to try and justify children’s nudity in any different way to that of adults. The underlying pull away from our natural state has become society’s collective reaction to nudity. A reaction where in the modern world, ‘fear and paranoia’ are louder voices than ‘trust and tolerance’. Why is this? Well the obvious answer lies in the word tolerance! The clear irony is that fear and paranoia are louder because the tolerant tolerate it! How can we fight this? Through loud voices and clear demonstrations that the default works. My daughter is growing up a girl who understands that nudity is OK. My sincere wish is that she continues to express this throughout her life.
That is awesome i hope she enjoys it
Great post. I fully agree with all the pros and cons you describe, and I tend (conscious bias as a fervent naturist) to think it’s much better to raise kids in nudity. Will they be happier? This is debatable. However, I sense they are more balanced as human beings, more confident and less ashamed of their body flaws. Of course, lots of them will change their mind and may leave naturism, but their body confidence will remain, particularly if this is discussed during their teenager time with respect and tolerance. Yes, naturists form a minority in society, but it’s still strong of millions of people, so they will not be totally left alone. Keep up the good posts!
There should be no need for a debate on the matter, as we all get know kids between the ages of 2 and 4 or 5 years of age love to play naked in the backyard, so all the parents need to do is ask them if they want to start wearing clothes around the house or on holidays or not, and if the child or children decide they feel comfortable being naked then the parents will know how to raise their children
Great article. Thanks.
Another great post! So good that I linked to it over on my blog.
Kids or families and nudity is definitely an oft covered topic. Because it involves kids, people can get a bit emotional about it. But I’ve noticed something that I might cautiously call a trend — increased acceptance of familial nudity among younger parents. It seems that more often than not, I find patenting articles espousing a more “laisez faire” or “to each their own” type approach when addressing the typical questions you address in your entry — is it ok for my kids to be naked, it it ok for my kids to see me naked, etc… Sure, most agree there should be limits. But it seems like there may be some awakening to the idea that simple nudity may not only not be a negative, but actually be a positive. Accordingly, there seems to be more acceptance and tolerance of different approaches in this regard. In other words, it depends on the parents, the child, the family, the circumstances, and a whole host of factors when determining what’s right for your family. There is no one correct way. There are many.
Thanks as always for the thought provoking post!
Naturistthoughts
I sent this on to my kids who now have young kids. Got a pic back that day showing twins (20 mo) playing naked at swim hole. They thanked me for the article.
As a father and Grand Father ,I do not see what is wrong with children being nude around parents and Parents being nude around parents and other adults who are true naturist’s and keep an eye on any person male or female who might take a unwanted interest in children when nude . Parents are the first teacher that a child know ,and as parents we teach our children everything that is good and that should be about nudity and acceptance ,and not push any child into being nude if he or she does not want to ,and if at a certain age they do not want to be nude any more then let them make that decision , they would have learned to accept their own bodies and that of other children and adults with out shame .
So let them have a choice to be or not to be nude and if at a certain age they do not want to ,that is ok
Great article and glad I was able to read it 21 days late but timely as I went to our last indoir Naturist swim on Saturday and was surprised to see a young family with their two boys below the age of ten participating.
They played together with their father while their mother was chatting with some of the other ladies.
At first when I arrived at the pool and they showed up it took me off guard.
But once we we were all swimming it was the most natural thing in the world and so happy that a young family can allow their children to learn not to live in shame and accept and respect their bodies as well as others.
I have a coworker that when she was first married, she and her husband would be nude around the house and briefly continued early on after the birth of their two boys. She stopped being nude around them when they got to a certain age and got them to cover up as well as she thought it less awkward.
Growing up in a large Catholic family being naked was never an option. It took me a long time to realize the being naked was nothing to be ashamed of.
Stay Naked
Fabien
How can be a nudies with other out .When it’s against the law in your state
My siblings and I (4 boys, 2 girls) were raised in a nudist household. We grew up feeling confident about our bodies and without the usual obsession of trying to see the other sex without clothes. And the age difference allowed the younger ones to see pubescent bodies and natural development with curiosity but without shame. 6 of us have kids of our own now and it’s great to have 3 generations together at family gatherings, all comfortable worth their own nudity as we’ll as with those around them.
Bradthenudist touched on, what I think could be and is often cited as one of the advantages. Confidence, not just at the beach or school, but life in general. If you are 14 years old and ca walk around and converse with nude strangers, you can do anything
I agree, when nude you are showing the truth of what you look like. It is a very great idea for you to feel better about yourself and the way you see fit.
It is very rejuvenating to the nude pictures.All are excellent nicely presented.
This is a great article.
My wife and have an 11 year old son and we are very relaxed about nudity at home. We have a hot tub and when we use it – we’re always nude. Aside from the naturist aspect, it’s better for the chemical balance of the water!
We holiday in the Canary Islands and visit nudist beaches. When we arrive at our hotel, the first thing we do is have a competition to see who can be naked first.
Raising a child in a nude household is a wondrous thing. Our son is balanced in his attitude towards nudity. Since – forever, he’s seen naked people of all ages and sizes. He knows about the changes that take place during puberty and has no hang ups about his own changing body.
Unfortunately, I was not raised in a nudist atmosphere, even though I recall having an interest as early as the age of 3. And then, in raising my own kids, there was no nudity because my wife had no interest. And now my grandchildren are growing up without the joy of experiencing nudity. As I’ve aged, I’ve discovered ways to practice nudity apart from my family, but opportunities are increasingly limited.