To ask if it's futile trying to stop a 7.5 year old boy showing off and being silly?

[Pushpins40]

Exactly that. He'll try to be the real clown, the silly one - sometimes it's good natured, other times (like today in a changing room with two other kids, a girl and a boy that he's doing a swimming class with) he starts shouting, 'I can see you vagina and your penis!'.

It's embarrassing and very annoying. If it's not that sort of stuff, it's just generally trying to push boundaries, be the funny one.

How do I stop it? Can I? Am I being realistic given his age? He
We talk to him about it and I think he 'hears' but then, in the moment, of course he does exactly the same.

Yep, can see it coming because he did something naughty when he was 3.

Why aren’t we all criminals because I’m pretty sure we’ll have all done something when we were kids. I remember stealing 50p off my dad when I was about 8. Shouldn’t I be a bank robber by now?

I can't believe that a mother recognising her son's behaviour was inappropriate and asking for advice has turned into this.

I'm sure the other boy and girl were embarrassed and it is of course wrong, I don't think that anyone has said that it wasn't wrong, but to bring the #metoo campaign into the equation, and turn a 7 year old child's actions into being sexual is absolutely absurd.

I'd be interested how this thread would have gone if the OP's child had been a girl.

It wouldn’t have gone like this thread has gone put it that way MistyMinge.
Girls do have more leniency from people regarding their behaviour eg making innapropriate comments, being violent, being disruptive etc.. whereas boys do get a lot more stick for showing exactly the same behaviour.

The most distressing thing I read on here was a grown woman saying she would have assaulted this 7 year old child.

Same. And then people moan when mothers of sons stick up for their precious boys. Of course they are precious! Is it any wonder they do when there’s people like that lurking about? Yeah I’ll just stand aside while you assault my child, it’s ok.

Another thing that shocks me about it is that we are all told to teach our boys not to hit girls so that they will not hit women when they grow up (fair enough but that should work both ways anyway. I teach my children not to hit anyone) but then a grown woman thinks it’s ok to hit a boy. That’s sending out all the wrong messages to her daughter and to the boy and it does piss me off.

Pushpins40, you are quite right to be concerned about DS's fondness for clowning and being the silly one. For his own good, he needs to be steered away from it, even when it's good-natured, (and this went beyond the good-natured sort of jolly jape). He's becoming fond of the clown role, and may not notice others growing tired of it if he isn't reined in.
From the age you quoted, I guess he'll be going into Yr4 if you're in the UK. IME, it's Yr5 when the tide of public approbation starts to ebb away from the class twit; you sometimes see the increased desperation in their antics as they try for the bliss of laughter from their peers. I still remember the stricken look on one (basically harmless but capable of being an annoying wally) lad when one of his class mates turned around and said, "X, why don't you just shut up and let us get on with our work?" Ticking off from teacher was part of the show, realising that he was no longer amusing was devastating. Another killer was when a classmate looked at him, sighed, and moved to a spare table; no sensation, forced to buckle down to work.
You've spotted the problem in good time, and you are not indulging or excusing him, and if he is pulled up each and every time, the message will get through in the end.
Keep up the good work, it is worth persevering (and in the meantime check the gin supply)

@Cismyass I can't see where else you've posted on this thread, so unless there's some sockpuppetry going on I can't see why OP would have messaged you.

Oh, apologies - I see you had a message deleted. Seems fair enough that OP was unhappy with a response in which you clearly broke the talk guidelines. Not sure that requires help from the mental health team.