Child nudity in public

[GlowWurm]

Apologies if this has been discussed at length, I didn’t want to do a search for ‘child nudity’.

I was at the local pool and a woman was showering off her little boy, who was stood there facing forward completely naked. This was in a very public area of the changing rooms, it’s just a line of shower heads on a wall in front of the entrance to the pools (this is a mixed sex changing room). Little boy was approximately 2? I’m not good with children’s ages, the age when they are tottering about but not overly stable. I noticed some women walked in and they saw and looked at each other with a bit of a worried look, so I don’t think it’s just me?

There are also private showering cubicles available.

Phones are not banned although presumably there are rules around not taking photos, but of course anyone could if they wanted. I do realise not all
men are predators so I’m not trying to tar everyone like that.

My question is…is this acceptable behaviour and I’m just being overly concerned?

My local swimming pool had to do work adding bits to the top & bottom of the cubicle doors & sides in the mixed sex 'changing village'.
Men had been caught taking pictures of women & children changing by either sliding a phone under the cubicle sides or over the top.

So yes, male pervs do enjoy a mixed sex changing area for the chance to get some photos of the unaware in a state of undress.

That is why I would be concerned.

Wow, this was grim reading. Ours are open top and bottom as well.

You must have been watching people very closely to spot 5 different women and monitor their reactions clearly enough to know exactly what it was.

My goodness. Saying Britons are up tight is clearly with good cause. Bloody ridiculous.

No problem

Not older than around 4 I'd say

I shower DS age 3 naked at the pool.

Bathroom is women (and their children only), not like the open showers on a public beach.

No photos (sign posted and very enforced)

DS drinks loads of water when he swims and immediately has to pee when he gets out.

It's a PITA to get wet swimmers back on him just to shower him.

Other kids are naked. I'd say 50/50 shower that way and if they aren't naked in the shower they are naked minutes after.

I've never had a stare, a stink eye, a huff or a tut as far as I can tell.

It's up to the parent. I mostly keep my toddlers covered up outside for sun protection but also because I'm vaguely aware of the ubiquity of phone cameras and I'm aware my kids may grow up happy to walk around freely like Swedes or they may be ultra conservative and embarrassed to think anyone ever saw them naked at any point in their lives. I try not to worry about random perverts getting excited about them (naked or in clothes) any more than I worry about random perverts getting excited about me in swimwear.

I really dont think it's an issue at that age.

Yep agreed, they haven't got the capacity to decide so why have them there naked when we wouldn't be naked ourselves. Also just a bit unnecessary?

2 is very little. I’ve seen similar with kids a similar age at our local pool.

If there are private cubicles I can't see why the parents wouldnt use that. The child deserves privacy.

I think the point is that yours in more private and women only. The OP was talking about a place where adult men were and could have access to phones.

All the kids under about 4 shower naked as soon as they get out of the pool where I go, it's not a big deal. The showers are open and right by the pool to wash the chlorine off and then the proper showers are enclosed.

Also to add, people aren't just standing around they are either parents or swimming teachers or adult swimmer's on the other side of the pool (and obviously in the water swimming). While the children are showering its just to get the chlorine off so about 1 minute and the oareng are standing right there. It's also a swimming school so while some random technically could walk in, it's not open as such to the general public

This seems a bit dramatic, most two year olds aren't toilet trained so will still be in nappies, that is far less dignified surely?

People saying this is ok really do need to wake up and realise the harsh reality of child protection.

They're human, they can only be so vigilant. Also humans have memories in their mind, none of which are on a camera roll.

10 years ago I would have scoffed at the concern but seeing what men get up to on the internet with their sexual weirdness no I wouldn’t let a child naked in public.

I suspect the looks you saw were judgemental looks rather than worried tbh

Exactly this. Just not worth taking the chance for their sake of keeping there bottoms on.

Probably because we are not paranoid, seeing potential paedophiles around every corner. Or perhaps endemic anxiety about every day life is just so out of hand now that many parents have begun restricting normal child behaviours .

As a parent to now 30+ yr olds .. they were naked on the beach and family gardens with pools/paddling pools . Until about 4 when they made their own decision not to go naked.

There is a lot of research about parental anxiety and how it has such a negative effect upon children.

www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/54942#:~:text=Study%20will%20help%20University%20of%20Sussex%20psychologists,tips%20on%20how%20to%20manage%20their%20symptoms;

@honkifyalikebeans I know. That's my point. Where I consider nudity acceptable is not in a bank of public showers, as I mentioned, but a women-only space where some of the other children are also naked and there is a strong sense of no photos.

The parent has to assess the situation and make the call. And I wouldn't have made the same call that the parent referenced in the OP made. It might or might not be safe but I wouldn't make that call with my kid.

Things are very different now sadly when everyone has a phone in their pocket and the profileration of online connection between these weird men. I think you would be naive to do this now. You don’t need to make a big thing of it or provoke anxiety just keep the pants on. Agree it’s sad.

@GlowWurm

I hadn't been swimming for quite a while, noticed the extensions & one of the staff told me what had been going on.
They've completely re-done the area now but I haven't been swimming since the renovations so don't know what it's like now.

The idea of the changing village was good - they had individual cubicles, family sized cubicles & even massive closed off areas where visiting swimming teams could change. I just hope the actions of those men haven't ruined it for everyone.

Absolute non issue