The New York Times did an article (can’t link because it’s a subscription only site) and then Time Magazine also followed up with another article. They were about nude summer camp for kids aged 11-18. I can only find links to articles about the NYT article http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/19/State/Nude_summer_youth_cam.shtml
Almost all of these kids come from nudist families and so they are very used to seeing and being naked.
But something seems creepy about it to me. Especially boys who are around 14 need no stimulation at all to get… shall we say all riled up. This just seems like asking for trouble.
It does seem creepy, but there’s nothing illegal going on and nudist camps tend to be very well regulated for just that reason. I have a friend who went to such camps as a youngster in Holland and she turned out fine. It’s just a different lifestyle, I guess.
Its still creepy regardless. Beside I think if mommy and daddy want to be a nudust thats fine; but they shouldn’t throw their children into it. I know if my mom sent me to a nudist camp when I was a kid I’d be horrified!
“Regardless…” Wait, what?! You’re insinuating that society doesn’t play a role in the perception of nudity? That’s ridiculous. It’s entirely society, and it’s illogical to believe otherwise. Copious indian tribes are nude the majority of the time, which includes children, and they don’t possess any of these artificial hang-ups.
Just for the record, I wouldn’t exactly say clothing is an “artificial hangup.” Have you ever tried walking in the woods or for that matter playing volleyball without clothes?
Well, Shakes, you’d be horrified because you weren’t brought up nudist. If you’d been around nudism all your life, it wouldn’t be any big thing to you, so you wouldn’t be horrified.
:rolleyes: As if string bikinis and micro-speedos really covered anything…
It’s not creepy at all to me, and I wasn’t raised nudist. Obciously, there have to be some rules about interactions in such places, but that’s no different than having rules when you’re walking down a street fully clothed. Are some of the men going to have an occassional erection? Sure - they do that WITH clothes on, too.
It’s not that you’d stop noticing who was male and female, but after a short while of everyone being naked it wouldn’t have such a huge impact.
No I’m saying society does play a role in our percetion of nudity. I’m also saying that it doesn’t matter why we think its creepy, it’s still creepy regardless. Its not east negating years of programing like that with just a whim. (at least not for me)
Another vote for way creepy. Like it or not, nudity has an element of sex in it. Anything consensual between adults works for me. But kids are a different story.
I was at the American Association of Nude Recreation Junior Leadership Retreat about 3 weeks ago. About 100 kids, mostly teenagers, all nude, chaperoned. Aside from a couple water balloon fights and a bee sting, nothing unusual took place.
The belief that nudity HAS to have an element of sex in it is ridiculous.
What were you doing there, Plnnr? Are you a nudist?
I don’t think its “creepy” per se, because these kids weren’t forced to go. They go because that’s the lifestyle they’re accustomed to.
I don’t think I would send a “standard” kid to a camp like that (unless he or she wanted to go). We are very hung up about nudity in this country, and it would do us all some good to try to get over it a little.
Bill H…chaperoning is required at all events involving teenagers. All dances, sporting events, practically every minute of their lives is chaperoned in one way or another. When they’re alone, they explore sex. Big whoop. It’s natural.
Have you seen how 12 year old girls dress these days? Are you saying that has nothing to do with sex? Is it really any better for a girl that age to be dressed like Britney Spears rather than to be naked? (Damn, I think I’m turning into someone’s father.)
Didn’t you ever watch the Discovery Channel or its ilk? South American Indians run around in the JUNGLE with nothing but a string around their waists. Clothing is necessary in colder climes, but there’s nothing inherently natural about it, it’s a technology we’ve adopted along with everything else.
Although I’ve never been all that interested in nudism myself, it doesn’t bother me at all.
My SO and I and about 1000 other people were at the resort where the meeting was being held. As was pointed out, the kids at the retreat had been raised in that lifestyle and think nothing about it. Unlike some, they realize that skin is just skin. There isn’t anything sexual about nudity unless one wants to think about nudity in a sexual way. I certainly don’t feel particularly sexual when I’m taking a shower, laying by the pool, or laying on the beach.
And as I suspect you don’t know any of the parents of the kids who were there, Bill H., I don’t know that you’re qualified to express an opinion about their parenting skills.
My GF and her family are Danish. She was brought up with many of her family holidays being to naturist resorts where no one thought anything about the kids running about nude. It was never a sexual thing. She now has no real interest in attending naturist resorts in her adult life, but neither her nor I see any particular harm in it at any age.
I agree it may be an unsuitable activity for some children if they do become very self-conscious about themselves and their bodies during or beyond puberty. This I can understand. But if all the kids involved have the same attitude (i.e. it doesn’t matter) them fair dues to them. As long as the choice to participate or not is theirs to make, it’s no big deal at all.