when/where is it OK for children to go nude?

[hovely]

I feel out of touch with general opinion on this one. Aside from hygiene & sun protection issues, is it OK or not OK for a small child to be nude/bottomless - on the beach? in the park? in the paddling pool at the park? on a campsite? in somebody else's garden? in your own garden if it's overlooked?
If it's OK up to a certain age, then what age?
Is it different for boys/girls?

I totally agree. I can't begin to describe some of the outfits I saw when I took my DD to see Britney Spears. Soe were genuinely shocking to see on 6 and 7 year olds.

And even I hate flopping around in a wet cozzie!

Lots of paedophiles are incredibly turned on by school uniforms (and non-paedophiles too, hence the success of Britney Spears. Ian Huntley used to seek out schoolgirl girlfriends and have sex with them while they were wearing their uniform. So shall be ban our kids from wearing their school uniform in public? Or white socks? If my ds wants to run about naked in the garden or on the beach then I have no problems with that. And if someone is a paedophile, well it doesn't harm my son if he is oblivious of it, so I don't see why I should curtail his fun because of someone we don't know and may well not even exist.

And don't forget 'wet t shirts'....

That's a good point actually aloha. Frightening to think about it really.

I'm not sure how I'd feel though if I thought someone was looking at my daughter the wrong way, even if she wasn't aware of it.

Weren't the police wanting to introduce some new laws around voyeurism? Maybe I'm mistaken.

I'm not saying I'd be thrilled if I found out that someone was getting pleasure from it but the likelihood of finding out is pretty much non-existent and for the sake of preventing some theoretical person's theoretical pleasure I'm not going to keep my children indoors for the rest of their lives! That really would be letting them win IMO.

Well said. Mine is too old to be in the altogether, but if we landed by the sea she'd happily splash around in her underwear, which I wouldn't have a problem with.

Actually, I've just re-read the original poster's questions. She asked if it was OK up to a ceryain age, and if it is different for boys and girls. Any views?

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And I do think that is a natural part of developing self-consciousness that children change and want to cover up. I don't think you normally have to impose it. Like Adam and Eve, they suddenly realise they are naked

How can keeping their bits covered be classed as 'Extreme measures'???

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Just to be clear secur, are you saying that you have concerns about your children's own father? Forgive me if I've misunderstood.

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Glad to hear that! I must admit I hadn't thought of it from that point of view. My DH used to bring DD into the men's room to change until quite recently, as a lot of dads do. And, as you suggest, I'm not sure if they'd tune into anyone who was there for the wrong reasons.

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I've been thinking a lot about this. I do wish dp didn't feel the way he does - tbh, I think he's a bit uncomfortable and shy about nakedness generally (or is that just my dreadful tendency to stomp past our bedroom windows in full glorious nudity ?)

Is this just a British problem? Nakedness in a lot of European countries is not an issue at all, do they have similar concerns about who's watching, etc?

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You're probably right, openness about the body creates a more healthy (and less perverted) attitude towards it. My late grandmother was a right old prude, gave my sister a stern lecture for allowing her ds and dd to bath together!

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I guess then there's some truth in ignornace being bliss... Although now there's the perils of digital photography and the internet to contend with. Can you imagine finding out that somene had posted a photo of your child for all to see?

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Difficult question, and not an area I can claim any real knowledge of. It does strike me that the excitement of seeing children is likely to perpetuate the process at least, ad you have to think about what goes through that person's mind as they're watching, i.e. what fantasies are they imagining? Sooner or later it's likely that just looking won't be enough, but I honestly don't know enough about the subject to say any more than that.

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Well my daughter sometimes goes without a top on the beach, she seems fine with it. I wouldn't worry to much about whether they have tops or not at that age.

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