Growing Up Nudist: A Naked Childhood

[NaturalInNY]

LOXAHATCHEE, Fla.—

Nine-year-old Alex Reamer, like most boys his age, loves video games, the playground and riding his bike, except he does all these things without wearing clothes. Yes, you read that correctly, he is naked.

"I don't wear clothes much!" Alex proudly exclaimed in an interview with ABC News' John Berman, adding he goes months without putting on a shirt and pants. "I just like to be nude."

Alex and his family are nudists. That means naked swimming, naked cleaning, naked homework. Naked everything.

Watch the full story on "20/20: Xtreme Parents" Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

"I never realized that my clothes were so uncomfortable, until I didn't have to wear them anymore," said Frank Reamer, Alex's dad.

The Reamers moved to Sunsport Gardens, a nudist camp outside Palm Beach, six years ago. About 70 residents, including 10 children, live in small RVs located around the 40-acre campground, where nudity is not only embraced but expected.

The Reamers only agreed to speak with "20/20" if we agreed not to blur, uh, anything.

"It sends the wrong message," said Sandra Reamer, Alex's mom. "It says that nudity is bad."

More here:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/growing-nudist-naked-childhood/story?id=16268502

This episode airs in the U.S on "20/20: Xtreme Parents" Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

I love them taking the stance to not speak to them unless they agreed not to blur anything.

[Danee]

Thanks for this and it was great. This kid is awesome!  Love his spirit and attitude and can only hope it will remain so positive as he matures.  His brother is anti but Alex could care less. 

Growing Up Nudist: A Naked Childhood


Nine-year-old Alex Reamer, like most boys his age, loves video games, the playground and riding his bike, except he does all these things without wearing clothes. Yes, you read that correctly, he is naked. 
"I don't wear clothes much!" Alex proudly exclaimed in an interview with ABC News' John Berman, adding he goes months without putting on a shirt and pants. "I just like to be nude." 
Alex and his family are nudists. That means naked swimming, naked cleaning, naked homework. Naked everything. 
  Watch the full story on "20/20: Xtreme Parents" Friday at 10 p.m. ET. 
"I never realized that my clothes were so uncomfortable, until I didn't have to wear them anymore," said Frank Reamer, Alex's dad. 
The Reamers moved to Sunsport Gardens, a nudist camp outside Palm Beach, six years ago. About 70 residents, including 10 children, live in small RVs located around the 40-acre campground, where nudity is not only embraced but expected. 
The Reamers only agreed to speak with "20/20" if we agreed not to blur, uh, anything.

"It sends the wrong message," said Sandra Reamer, Alex's mom. "It says that nudity is bad."

Family Says Nakedness Reinforces Positive Values

It's one thing to see every inch of grown-ups. But what about children, like Alex?
 
His parents aren't worried about leering strangers or pedophiles, saying the community is completely safe. Sunsport does background checks on anyone who visits the campground. 
According to Florida's Department of Children and Families, there are no specific rules or policies on children at nudist camps or resorts, so children taking part in the lifestyle at nudist camps is not illegal. The state agency did say, however, that it "has received  calls regarding families living at Sunsport Gardens over the years." The details of those complaints and outcomes are not public record. Morley Schloss, the camp's owner, said DCF investigators have never found any wrongdoing at Sunsport.

The Reamer family  decided to appear on "20/20"  to lift the veil on family nudism. Most practice nudism in hiding, not telling friends or family for fear disapproval or condemnation. The Reamers maintain there is nothing lewd or sexual about the lifestyle. 
"People have a misconception. They think this is about sex, and it isn't," said Frank. "My wife and I are in a monogamous relationship. We live with our children. I've seen them all nude, they've all seen me nude." 
Sandra added  that her near nonstop nakedness reinforced positive values in her children. "As far as body image, the kids are seeing all different kinds of people, and they're seeing that people can be different. There is less judgment."

Older Son Prefers Clothes

According to Sandra, when completely nude, people look you in the eyes, not at your breasts. As for gawking or inappropriate staring, the nudists say it doesn't happen, and anyone who did that would be immediately ejected from the camp.
 
But it is a bit awkward for one member of the family, 15-year-old Bud Reamer, who prefers to wear clothes. "It's just more comfortable," he said, calling his parents' decision to become nudists "weird" but one he has gotten used it. 
Wearing clothes in a place where everyone else goes naked is extremely isolating for Bud. There are no children his age living onsite, and like his younger brother, he is home-schooled, so he spends most of his time on the computer inside his trailer. When Bud turns 18, he plans to leave Sunsport and join the military. 
Frank and Sandra say moving to Sunsport was a family decision, and it wasn't until Bud  gave his blessing that they took the plunge head-first into the nude-only pool. 
"The kids know we wouldn't force them [to be nude], force them to do something that they didn't want to do," said Frank. "For instance, Alex pretty much refuses to wear clothes, while Bud always will."

As for Alex, he loves nudity so much inside the 10-foot walls of Sunsport  that he often refuses to leave. A trip to Universal Studios was "just OK." A better time is playing Nintendo DS (au natural,  of course) with his two best friends, a brother and sister, who also live at the campground. According to the 9-year-old, the only downside to going clothes-free 24/7 is all the mosquitoes.

[NaturalInNY]

The full episode is up here:
http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55199272/2020-54-xtreme-parents

I'll never get over how corny the whole "creative shooting" thing looks.

[nudetrail]

cant watch it only for united states     

[The_Xenologer]

The full episode is up here:
http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55199272/2020-54-xtreme-parents

I'll never get over how corny the whole "creative shooting" thing looks.

It reminds me of that one scene from the movie Beowulf where they try to avoid receiving an "R" rating for the movie by creatively placing objects in front of his penis. At one point, he draws his sword from the ground straight up so that it continues to cover his penis while he is battling whatever monster that was threatening his village. That movie sucked so bad!

[Gman707]

I did wonder if not bluring anything would translate too not shoeilg anything to meet censor requirements.

I loved reading the article. It was so refreshing tohear the parents talk annd not be paranoid about peadopbiles etc. It is the sad case that useually when documentarys and publications report on naturism they often exclude kids because of these types of concerns andthis does send the wrong message. It says that naturism is somehow adult, which gives it a kind of explicit connotation in the minds of textiles.

[Delta]

The web proxies I use are apparently not enough to fool ABC and I do not really think this is worth the expense of getting a VPN proxy or travelling to the US for - but does someone have a copy of this thing recorded that he could share?

EDIT: never mind, this one: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/reamers-nudist-camp-family-naked-children-parenting-16283741 seems to work for me.

[Gman707]

Ok so i finally got to watch the video. It was good and the parents were very frank and open. I didnt like the bit where the presenters says "Does a 9 year old have a choice" though as it seemed to suggest that the parents were forcing the kid into something a little inappropriate.

[coonta]

Got to say thats such a nice atitude to it :)

[NaturalInNY]

Ok so i finally got to watch the video. It was good and the parents were very frank and open. I didnt like the bit where the presenters says "Does a 9 year old have a choice" though as it seemed to suggest that the parents were forcing the kid into something a little inappropriate.

Not to mention, there obviously is a choice because the 15 year old opts out. Alex seems pretty happy about his living conditions.

[Archaewok1]

I didn't really like the vid. Of course, it seems the whole series is meant to be flashy and about absurd parenting to begin with, so I guess the station trying to twist the video into a semi-anti-nudist vid doesn't surprise me. Of course it doesn't help when the kid seems a bit overly stuck on being nude and the mom basically says that guys checking a woman out never happen at the nudist park. If their nudist park is open to the public visiting it, they are going to get a few guys checking women out eventually. We might as well be real about what actually happens at nudist parks, so that it doesn't come out later that we are liars or delusional utopianists.

[Gman707]

There is some truth to that. I kniw a naturist coupke who met at a club, found eachother atractive and got together. While naturism helps romove some of the mystery with the body and the fascination with getting to see it as part of a sexual experience it doesnt remove the basest of human attraction. Until humans no longer need to reproduce/ start families we are always going to find someone attractive. While we certainly need to ensure that sexual behavior and innapropriate ogling are kept out of naturist events, to suggest that no body ever has a biological reaction (not erections and stuff but the chemical and emotional reactions to attraction which can involve the odd bit of staring if you dont contol yourself) to a fellow naturist/human being/potential partnet and any that do are instantly removed is just stupid.   

[nudetrail]

There is some truth to that. I kniw a naturist coupke who met at a club, found eachother atractive and got together. While naturism helps romove some of the mystery with the body and the fascination with getting to see it as part of a sexual experience it doesnt remove the basest of human attraction. Until humans no longer need to reproduce/ start families we are always going to find someone attractive. While we certainly need to ensure that sexual behavior and innapropriate ogling are kept out of naturist events, to suggest that no body ever has a biological reaction (not erections and stuff but the chemical and emotional reactions to attraction which can involve the odd bit of staring if you dont contol yourself) to a fellow naturist/human being/potential partnet and any that do are instantly removed is just stupid.

[kavikanudist]

I just watched the show today. I think I need to watch it again, but I didn't like it. It seemed uncomfortable to me because the interviewer was uncomfortable. It seemed like he had his opinions and his "angle" before he even got to meet the family.

[Dario Western]

I didn't really like the vid. Of course, it seems the whole series is meant to be flashy and about absurd parenting to begin with, so I guess the station trying to twist the video into a semi-anti-nudist vid doesn't surprise me. Of course it doesn't help when the kid seems a bit overly stuck on being nude and the mom basically says that guys checking a woman out never happen at the nudist park. If their nudist park is open to the public visiting it, they are going to get a few guys checking women out eventually. We might as well be real about what actually happens at nudist parks, so that it doesn't come out later that we are liars or delusional utopianists.

Very well said!  :-)

I would like to add that I think this is the sort of thing that tends to turn off younger people from visiting nudist places: "eye to eye contact at all times", "don't fraternise with other club members", "don't think sexual thoughts" etc. etc.

If nudist clubs were more honest and open as to what they are really like instead of trying to put on a pretty face for the media, I actually think that we would get a whole lot more support from mainstream society than we currently do. 

I saw the interview too.  Whilst it was great that Alex was confident being naked, he didn't come across as being an exceptionally intelligent or articulate kid.  Half the time I couldn't understand what he was saying, especially for a 9-year-old.