Growing Up Without Shame of Nudity

[Danee]

Growing Up Without Shame of Nudity
Posted in: Lifestyle by newsdesk on November 11, 2009

From: http://www.rtvchannel.tv/growing-up-without-shame-of-nudity/#more-12920

Is This OK for Our Kids To Be Naked?


Imagine two young boys. One has visited a nudist club many times with
his family, the other may have only rarely seen a parent unclothed,
and they may have seemed embarrassed when that happened. The non-
nudist boy says to his friend, "Look what I've found!" as he shows the
nudist kid a copy of Playboy or some similar magazine, which he found
somewhere.  As they look at the pictures of scantily clothed,
erotically posed women, the boy who has seen hundreds of people of all
ages and body types, will probably think, "I've seen lots of naked
people before. Why does he want to sneak looks at this?" He might also
think, "This isn't even what most people look like."


Growing Up Without Shame of Nudity


Puberty can be a very difficult time for adolescents; their bodies are
growing rapidly, their genitals are changing, body hair is developing.
Some kids feel clumsy. Many are embarrassed by the changes that are
taking place. They can become VERY body-conscious. At that time, a
wise parent will try to keep lines of honest communication open but
still give them privacy and time to be alone in their room or with
their friends. Most adolescents would rather be ANYWHERE except where
their parents are.  All these things happen to nudist kids, too. The
one big difference for kids who were lucky enough to grow up in a
nudist environment is that those kids have literally seen those
changes take place, as their older friends and/or siblings went
through that difficult time. Because of that experience, they are
better prepared for it themselves.



SAFETY When In Public Nude


We read in the papers almost daily of some teacher, youth leader,
church official or some other trusted individual who took advantage of
a child in a sexual way. With hundreds of nudist clubs in North
America, that problem almost never takes place at our nudists
facilities.  A family which is open enough to have experienced nudism,
just like a healthy non-nudist family, is also open enough to have
discussed sex abuse with their children. These children know that they
can tell their parents immediately if they ever suspect that something
is wrong.  Been told by authorities that the reason nudist clubs have
a very low incidence of sex offenders is that we have the reputation
of prosecuting those individuals, while until recent years, many other
organizations have "swept those problems under a rug", more concerned
with their public image than with the safety of the people they should
have been protecting.  Historically, sex abusers have felt much safer
committing their misdeeds within organizations which have tried to
cover up their problems with molesters.  You may find it encouraging
to know that many nudist clubs, have a very good relationship with law
enforcement agencies. Some of their officers are members of our club.
You can be certain that if nudist clubs were doing anything illegal or
immoral, they wouldn't join. Instead, they would very quickly close
the club down!  Another fact to ponder: Almost all sex offenders are
males. At a nudist club, it would be very easy to tell if a man were
to become sexually excited.


Interesting Facts About Nudist Families


Surveys show that overall, adults who were reared as nudists think of
their childhoods as having been stable. They also find that nudists
tend to be very slightly better educated than their non-nudist peers.
The divorce rate is lower among nudist families, and their children
tend to make better grades than similar children in non-nudist
families. I don't think that this is BECAUSE the families are nudists;
it's more likely that the marriages are more stable AND their kids
make good grades AND the families are nudists because the family
members tend to communicate a little more openly with each other in
their daily lives.


Learning to Accept & Respect All Bodies


In spite of what Madison Avenue would have us think, human bodies
really do come in all sizes, shapes, and conditions. Few are
"beautiful" using Hollywood's standards. We think it's helpful for
kids to learn this early on; you may be aware that in those parts of
the world where nudity is acceptable at places like the beach and
public saunas, there is a much lower rate of eating disorders and
suicides among youth.  In those cultures, where kids see all types and
ages unclothed, they learn acceptance of the maturing and aging
processes; they don't think they have to have face lifts, boob jobs
and collagen injections to become socially acceptable; they don't grow
up thinking "You are what you wear".

[Pitti]

A very interesting report. It is true that children do better cope with their nude bodies occur than the others.

Related to the marriages and school grades was new to me.

Danee thank you for this report.

[Smoothies]

Hello Danee - hello Naturist friends,

I am quite enthusiastic on your recent comments.
Still I have to add a few words on the question, if children in a naturist environment might be in a better position, compared to those who are brought up in a conventional manner.
The comment may be read here:
http://www.medpsych.at/Naturist-Children.txt
Environment:
http://www.medpsych.at/Bericht10.html

Have fun - take care!
Volkmar

[Danee]

Thankyou V for that.  I found it an interesting read and yes, the evil lives among us and is everywhere.   Of course, it has lived among us for thousands of years too, in every level of society. 

The importance of education and communication is paramount and as with all things in life, helps the person tremendously as they mature and experience life.  That of course, applies to sexual life, interaction with others and basically all of lifes doors which a younger person wishes to see what is out there.  Education and communication. 

With the Naturist community, I think it is less of an issue really then the textile one due to the restrictions and checks that go on with most clubs and resorts.  This isn't the case of course with outside our lifestyle social venues, at least to the extent that we have within our community.  A young person who is raised in real naturism is generally more aware of this type of thing being part of society and the fact it has always been a part of society.

Education, communication at all times and being aware, without being judgemental.  Those are the keys.

Thanks again!

-Danee

[King Pizza]

A great book that address the topic is Growing up without Shame by  Dennis Smith and William Sparks. I have read this book and it is an excellent resource.

[luvthemgiants]

great report, thanks Danee

food for thought for the textile community

[Dario Western]

By the way, Dennis Craig Smith who was one of the authors of the book 'Growing Up Without Shame' has recently released a new book called 'Naked Fear' which is available through private publishers.  He recently joined my Yahoo! Group dedicated to GUWS and told me about it.