Virginia law restricts nudist summer camps for teens. What do you think?

[Green_Cymbeline]

The Virginia General Assembly recently passed a law designed to restrict nudist youth summer camps. The law requires that children who attend youth nudist camps be accompanied by their parents, grandparents or legal guardians.

Here’s the article from the Washington Post: Nudists Fight Law on Youth Camps: Va. Restriction on Children Insults Parents, Some Say

Youth nudist camp, you ask? Yes. Starting last summer, the White Tail Park nudist resort, which is southeast of Richmond, offered a summer camp for nudist teens. The summer camp was scheduled again for this summer, but the law went into effect and they had to move the camp to another state.

Del. John S. “Jack” Reid (R-Henrico), who sponsored the legislation after fielding calls from alarmed constituents, said he meant no offense to nudists. But Reid, a former middle school principal, said he is certain that nude adolescents experiencing emotional and physical change need parents nearby. “I just do not think that environment is a productive and safe environment and a healthy environment for young people,” he said.

So, parents filed suit against the law - the suit was filed on the plaintiffs’ behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia:

That law, they say, implies that they do not know what is best for their children. So in June, the resort and three families filed a suit challenging the law, which they argue violates parents’ constitutional rights to bring up their children as they deem appropriate – even if it includes shipping them off to a camp where naked talent shows and water polo are on the agenda.

The lawsuit is pending, although last month a federal judge in Richmond denied the nudists’ request to suspend the law until a final ruling is made. That meant two-thirds of 35 campers who had signed up for White Tail’s weeklong youth camp in July could not go, so the American Association of Nude Recreation, the camp’s sponsor, moved it to an undisclosed location in a nearby state.

So why send your kid to a nudist summer camp?

Parents here said that the White Tail youth camp, which was first held in July 2003, was like any other summer camp, minus the clothing. Counselors and a few dozen 11- to 17-year-old campers – who were all raised in nudist families – pitched tents in an enclosed corner of the park for a week of sports, art lessons and workshops, including one called “I’m a Nudist. Am I a Nut?”

The Hardees [a nudist family] and their 12-year-old daughter say that nudism is a social equalizer – with no clothes, there is no status – and seeing bodies of all shapes helps people accept their own. The youth camp, they said, gives nudist children the chance to be around other kids like them.

One of those children who attended last year, a 13-year-old girl whose parents were married in a nude ceremony at White Tail, said the nudist camp was far less stressful than her Girl Scout camp, where catty cliques abound.

“We don’t talk about other people here,” said the girl. “It’s so much fun being a nudist. You really get closer to people than in the textile world.”

The Hardees shopped around for summer camps for their daughter and 15-year-old son, settling on the nudist camp because it seemed “more wholesome,” said Dorothy Hardee.

So, what do y’all think? Are youth summer camps a good idea? I am all for the freedom to have them, but it strikes me as weird. As a teenager, the last thing I wanted to do was walk around naked around a bunch of other teenagers!

[Anaamika]

In the ideal it seems like a great idea to have teens come together and get over their body issues. I know I had plenty.

On the other hand my own mother gave me nearly all of my body issues so I don’t know if the kdis who really need them will go to such a thing.

On the other other hand I am not a nudist and would never go to one as an adult.

So I guess I don’t really know. I liked some summer camps as a child; I loved my Girl Scouts camp even though it was clique-y, and I loved going to Hindu camp.

[Indygrrl]

I’m all for nudist camps, but I can see why they’d be concerned about teens being there with little supervision. Eh, actually, nudist teens are probably just as likely to have sex than clothed ones. I don’t see that it makes much difference.

[Stonebow]

I guess i don’t see the big deal. It seems a no-brainer to me that you’d want a minor’s parents on site for something like this. If I were the camp administrator, I’d be thinking of covering my ass (no pun intended) just in case something did happen.

Of course, I’m not a nudist, so I bring my own prejudices to the discussion.

I’m curious as to how a campsite like this would be set up though…and i wonder if something like this would be a magnet for pedos with cameras. But that’s just the romantic in me.

[MysteryFellow63427]

As long as the parents sign all approriate legal waivers, etc., I don’t see why the kids couldn’t go off by themselves.

It might also be a good idea to check the camp counselors for sex offender records, but heck, that’s a good idea for any camp.

[Green_Cymbeline]

I don’t see it as a big deal either, as long as the parents OK it.

However, if you are a 13-year-old boy, doesn’t the site of a naked girl/young woman, uh, give you wood? I mean, wouldn’t this create awkward situations?

[Spavined_Gelding]

@nyctea scandiaca

However, if you are a 13-year-old boy, doesn’t the site of a naked girl/young woman, uh, give you wood? I mean, wouldn’t this create awkward situations?

You may be qualified to be a Virginia state legislator…

[iampunha]

@nyctea scandiaca

However, if you are a 13-year-old boy, doesn’t the site of a naked girl/young woman, uh, give you wood? I mean, wouldn’t this create awkward situations?

Life gives 13- (and 23-, and 33-, and 43-, etc.) year-old boys wood. Waking up would create an awkward situation;)

fizzy’s half-sister has ultrasounds of her son, then in utero, with an erection. Besides, not every 13-year-old girl is the stuff wet dreams are made of:)

[Grrr]

I must be a pilgrim because I don’t see how a naked thirteen year old walking around in plain sight is right in any way. How do they know there aren’t any perverts in the camp? Or how do they know that the parents aren’t forcing there children to do this? Which in my opinion, would be way wrong. You could end up giving the kid a complex if he/she isn’t cut out for the nudist life.

[GorillaMan]

It’s worth looking at the rules of the nudist camp in question, from their website (yes, it’s safe-for-work):

Conduct is to be of the highest standards and appropriate for a family setting. The following is strictly prohibited and will result in expulsion from the grounds: intimate contact, suggestive behavior, overt sexuality, or sexually provocative behavior; … wearing of any item of any type that is sexual in nature or contains vulgarity, profanity or obscenity; …

Any cell phone, PDA, watch, or other device with a built in camera poses an unacceptable threat to the privacy of White Tail Park members and guests. Possession of devices with built-in cameras is not permitted within White Tail Park without the prior written authorization of management…

They certainly seem to be a resonsible organisation. As for concern that it’d give kids ‘complexes’ - isn’t being hung-up about nudity also going to give them complexes?

[GorillaMan]

Oh, and here’s a PDF with more information.

[plnnr]

I’m a member of White Tail and was at the youth conference last year.

The legislation was a complete waste of time, energy, and paper. It made a few political points for someone that knows absolutely nothing about social nudity.