Too many people seem to think nudity harms children in some way. After examining the evidence, I have come to a valid conclusion. This will be presented. Furthermore, there are many ways it can actually benefit them. With an open mind on what is presented, you will be shocked at the different perspective you will have after reviewing my analysis. Always remember that context is of the utmost importance. It doesn’t mean you must be nudists, but you can’t be paranoid and freak out if they inadvertently glance at you nude. What you must do is be proud of what you have and instill this into your children. Showing pride instead of shame will be one of the most valuable lessons they can be taught. They will absolutely thank you for it later. As a bonus, I will divulge how, not only children are being harmed, but also society as an entire cohesive unit, and it is NOT related to our bodies. Unfortunately, women receive the worst of it through rape and other types of violence against them.
The very first article I researched, the title says it all, Nudity isn’t harmful to kids. In it, Dr. Reinisch answers a parent’s question on her concern about her 3-4-year-old kids seeing her with nothing on. Her direct answer to the parent was, “Nudity has not been found to be harmful to children – in fact, it is the norm in many cultures.” as she further reiterates to the parent, “As long as you are comfortable with them entering the bathroom while you are there, they are likely to feel equally comfortable with the situation.”
She is saying, if you’re comfortable with it, they are too. If you are self-conscious and worried about your own body, then you are the one who passes your self-consciousness and embarrassment onto them. If you have kids, you already know they are natural nudists. They would much rather be natural as opposed to wearing unnecessary, uncomfortable clothes. The only time they start wearing anything is after their parents teach them that they should be ashamed of what they were born with. The very next article reinforces the point of comfort, “Nudity between parents and children is fine as long as both are fully comfortable,” parent coach and author of the book aimed at helping kids, What to Do When You Worry Too Much, Dr. Huebner firmly states. She also clarifies what the goal is with children, “The goal with children is to foster delight and confidence in their bodies while gradually, over time, teaching norms related to privacy and consent.”
How will you “foster delight and confidence” if you don’t even have confidence in your own body?
You must show your children how to have total self-confidence. This will assist them in many areas of life. You must have confidence in your own appearance before you can pass that onto them. Don’t teach them to be ashamed; teach them, Blatant Self-Confidence. This is one of the most important lessons you can teach them.
Instead of teaching your children that their bodies are something they should be ashamed of or hide from others, it’s a better idea to teach them to be proud of themselves and their bodies and care for it while treating their body with respect. At the same time, they celebrate what they have regardless of size or shape.
Children, especially girls, are already self-conscious of their bodies. If you teach them to be proud of themselves and what they have from an early age, then they will learn to be proud and confident before they are teenagers. This will also prevent them from ailments like anorexia.
Next, Dr. Huebner goes into the pros and cons of parental nudity.
Two PROS she mentioned are:
You can promote body positivity and acceptance
You can teach the difference between nudity and sexuality
and two CONS were:
You’re going to get awkward comments, questions, and stares Boundaries can get blurred
_________________________________________________________________________
So, the PROS first:
Body Positivity
Haley, a mom of two, concedes, “I think it’s important that she grows up seeing what normal actually is. Equally important, I want her to grow up seeing her mom being OK with what normal is.”
Do you parents truly desire your children to emulate what they observe on TV?
We all know how fictitious the media is about everything they portray. They constantly bombard us with prime bodies that only Hollywood stars have. Haley also wants her daughter to understand that men see women as real people, saying, “Moms of boys can also want to pave the way for a new generation of men who see women as real people, not pinups on a pedestal.”
Don’t you want your kids to grow up with proper morals?
If children learn that women are just pieces of meat, we will never get a decent generation of respectful men who see women as equals, only as substandard citizens. Boys should learn respect early on, so they can treat others with more dignity, especially the opposite sex. If boys growing up into men showed respect, there would not be violence such as rape, and blatant disregard for women.
Difference between sexuality and nudity
Most of society must be educated on these, and believe me; there’s a monumental difference between them. Unfortunately, too many people have been bombarded by improper conditioning, such as the media and religion. They link these two converse concepts together mistakenly. Always keep in mind that sex is an action, and nudism is a state of being or mind. This is the parents’ chance to be a great role model for their children. Instead of sexuality being considered when the body is seen, show them pride instead of shame in their bodies. This will also convey to the boys that they should show more respect to others. This way, they will treat their partner much better.
Now the cons:
Getting awkward comments and questions
This is elementary and self-explanatory; you may be a 30-something adult, coaching perhaps a mere 10-year-old. I would assume that you have the intelligence and knowledge to advise such a young child properly. No matter the child’s age, you have much more experience and can explain it to them. It should be effortless to teach them properly.
Boundaries getting blurred.
Dr. Bartell, a New York-based child and parenting psychologist, declares, “If you’re very clear what the boundaries are, then that child has no question whatsoever.” She continues relaying same-sex parents are perfectly fine; she believes, “It’s always OK for children to be naked around their same-sex parents; she says a different dynamic eventually develops with mothers/sons and fathers/daughters.”
This is what I always assert, children or no children, all males have the same equipment, and all females have their own specific equipment. So, there is no problem with seeing the same thing on another body that you have yourself, i.e., a boy seeing a man or a girl seeing a woman. It’s the same exact thing!
In Felicity’s blog, she writes a blog “dedicated to naturism, body image, feminism, topfreedom / topfree equality, censorship, environmental issues, healthy living, and more.” She relayed, to her readers, a study by Dr. Story, where she interviewed over 260 kids and classified them into one of three categories:
social naturists or simply put – nudist kids,
at-home nudist,
and
non-nudist kids. The study concluded that naturism/nudism was a more important variable than gender, race, and geographical area in terms of having a positive self-concept, body acceptance, and self-image.
Then the Montana Naturist Organization declared, “Children feel at ease in the nude until parents teach them that it’s ‘wrong,’ ‘indecent,’ or ‘shameful.’” The article conveys that two individuals that were raised as nudists compiled a book, The Naked Child: Growing Up Without Shame, and inside they conclude, “the viewing of the unclothed body, far from being destructive to the psyche, seems to be either benign and totally harmless, or to actually provide positive benefits to the individuals involved.”
Yet another study referenced in the article surveyed 210 male and female undergraduate college students to determine, in part, what effect childhood exposure to parental nudity had on them as young adults.
Its findings were:
“Childhood experiences with exposure to nudity and sleeping in the parental bed are not adversely related to adult sexual functioning and adjustment. In fact, there is modest support that these childhood experiences are positively related to indices of adjustment” furthermore, “they conclude that for boys, exposure to nudity in early childhood appears to be modestly related to greater comfort levels concerning physical contact/affection.”
Furthermore, the article also attests, “there is no evidence that children are harmed by non-sexualized social nudity, and there is good reason to believe they actually benefit by it.” In the same article, it boldly asserts that “the fear that seeing naked people in some way harms children is not supported by academic research.”
The last item in the article was where a UCLA psychology professor, Paul Okami, did empirical research examining 160 psychiatric outpatient children and compared them to non psychiatric hospital inpatient children. He wanted to see if children who saw their parents nude and those who didn’t had any significant difference in socialization. His research didn’t find any difference at all. Now for the benefits I promised, as it’s, in fact, good for the children
They include, but are not limited to:
1 - One already mentioned was having a positive self-concept, body acceptance, and self-image.
2 - It can encourage children to develop self-esteem and body image. This encourages children to feel comfortable to ask questions about their bodies.
3 - children get a sense of what a normal body looks like, rather than what you would see in cartoons, magazines, and billboards. This causes children to grow in body positivity and to come to embrace that bodies come in different sizes and that there is no superiority/inferiority in looking one way or another.
4 - Finally, it can help to UNLINK nudity with sexuality. When children see their mother breastfeeding a sibling or when the family goes skinny dipping, children may experience neutral moments of nudity or memories of body positivity, which would help them when they start comparing their bodies with others. The family is one of the few places where children can see nude human bodies that are not being marketed in advertisements or sexualized.
Where most think that nudity and sexuality are linked together and may feel that it shows children that they are synonymous, it actually, per above, UNLINKS the two.
I have proven that nudity has absolutely NO detrimental effects on children and, as promised, showing the benefits as well.
Now to reveal how parents are really harming, not only their own children but also society as a whole, while women mostly get the brunt of it.
First ask, what a lot of children do to entertain themselves.
Games perhaps?
Maybe even VIDEO games?
Any particular type?
Perhaps VIOLENT video games?
If YES, these are the very cause of rape and violence in society.
Various sources will be cited for proof; I am in no way overstating this.
I’ll begin with two articles from Harvard University, a more than reputable source.
The 1st one is about protecting children from the dangers of virtual violence and states, as it speaks of video games, that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) made the following statement included in their policy statement entitled Virtual Violence. “Media violence is woven into the fabric of American children’s lives.”
However, the article then indicates something very frightening, that the last comprehensive assessment of “screen” violence was done way back in 1998, and it found “that the typical child will have seen 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence (including rape and assault) before middle school.” But then they also point out, “That was 18 years ago, 7 years before YouTube began and nine years before the first iPhone was released.”
The present numbers must be beyond frightening and staggering!
But that's not all, the vast collection of extreme violence is overwhelming!
All the violence on YouTube proves this very point, yet censors any kind of nudity and states that “this video may not be appropriate for some viewers.”
This is so very sad for our children and society, as it leads our children down the wrong path by exposing young impressionable children to “virtual violence,” which has many detrimental negative effects as seen in all the evidence that will be presented. The benefits of them seeing nudity have already been relayed, such as body positivity, so them seeing the human body that they have themselves is fine for their upbringing.
On the other hand,
“Multiple studies have shown that children exposed to violence may be
more aggressive,
and they may have
behavioral problems.
They may also
become desensitized to violence, which may be the worst outcome of all.”
Considering something very frightening, “imagine a generation of children growing up thinking that violence is acceptable and unremarkable.”
Or per my research, perhaps they already do.
Pediatricians recommend a list of their suggestions regarding “virtual violence.”
I picked only two:
“First person shooter” games, in which killing is the central theme and the goal, are not appropriate for children of any age.
Parents need to be mindful of what their children see and what games they play. To the extent that it’s possible, parents should try to watch and play with their children. With older children, especially those with computers and smartphones, it’s important to talk about what they are seeing and doing.
It’s ALL about being aware of the effect that violence can have on our children. The real issue is the parents allowing their children to do anything they want while not supervising their children’s actions. Some may call this very lazy parenting.
The next article, also from Harvard, gives a list of harmful actions that these video games show children every day:
Blood and gore.
Intense violence.
Strong sexual content.
Use of drugs.
I don’t believe these are what a growing child needs to educate themselves with. However, the Grand Theft Auto series provides ALL of this for your totally zealous and vulnerable children to partake and perhaps carry out themselves!
Oh, I just want to make sure you saw the one in red about sexual content. The very content that children see every day, so it seems that all these video games the children are always playing could account for all the sex children are exposed to, NOT the human body.
According to AAP and AACAP, if you allow your kids to play violent video games like Grand Theft Auto and many more, you “can contribute to real-life violent behavior and harm children in other ways.”
Naturally, every parent wants to raise their children to have healthy and respectful social attitudes. Sadly, an over-emphasis on monitoring content with sexual themes is often paired with a “blind spot” regarding content with a lot of violence. For many parents, this may be a subconscious thing, as they feel as though they can depend on content providers providing filters for sexual content. That casual attitude leads them to overlook that there are fewer filters for violent content.
Another alarming and very disturbing stat the article revealed is:
“A separate analysis found that more than half of all video games rated by the ESRB contained violence, including more than 90% of those rated as appropriate for children 10 years or older.”
One special note worth revealing, I reached out to the ESRB, and not surprisingly was blatantly ignored. Their lack of response, to me, means they don't really care about our impressionable youth.
Parents, we all can see that extreme violence is not a great concept for a mesmerized young 10-year-old, so we should all be more aware of what they observe in video games and other captivating activities.
Don’t you think a theme like violence is much more detrimental than seeing a natural human body all of us have?
So, maybe watching a mother nursing her infant and possibly glancing at her nipple for a split second is not so bad after all.
What do you think is worse?
Violence, blood, gore, and other brutality,
OR
Seeing a mom giving tender loving care to her newborn infant that has joined us all?
Any respected college professor down to an elementary school teacher will all agree that repetition is the best teacher. So how a child would be harmed by seeing a human body just once, while video games that are played every single solitary day does not harm them, escapes me. Most violent video games are rated appropriate for children as young as 10, but most parents don’t allow these same children to see our natural human bodies that we ALL have, including children.
Is this appropriate parenting?
One KEY point the article states is,
“Parents can protect children from potential harm by limiting the use of video games.” So, this means, to have the proper influence, you should closely monitor what they do while out of your immediate view. So, logically, parents do not want to harm their children by allowing them to play very violent games with drug use or imagery of sexual innuendos.
Do you realize that kids, and all of society, are being continuously enervated daily by allowing this very activity in homes?
The authors of AAP policy state, “Video games are particularly harmful because they are interactive and encourage role-playing. As such, these games may serve as virtual rehearsals for actual violence.”
The only difference is, that real-life doesn’t have an extra life!
So, as proven, STRONG SEXUAL CONTENT is plentiful in VIDEO GAMES, so it sounds as if, instead of hiding human anatomy, perhaps hiding their joysticks would be a superior alternative. If these young, impressionable children incorporate what they interact with during their games, with violence and rehearse it every day, then there’s a good chance they will go out and “execute” it in the real world.
Assassinating a person in a game is one thing, but executing a real-life person is not!
Once that is done, there are NO more “extra lives” or "respawning" to bring a person back to life. This world is already too violent; I don’t comprehend why it needs any more than it already has. So, attempt to understand that children don’t need to be shielded from our body; it’s entirely a different activity that they need suppression from. It’s all the violence and SEX in video games that teach the unacceptable element, like brutality, that is forbidden by law at any age.
So, what should children NOT see?
Before you decide, I will share a list of negative themes that popular video games promote:
“While some games have educational content, many of the most popular games emphasize negative themes and promote:”
The killing of people or animals
The use and abuse of drugs and alcohol
Criminal behavior, disrespect for authority and the law
Sexual exploitation and violence toward women
Racial, sexual, and gender stereotypes
Foul language and obscene gestures,
as the article adamantly states.
These are the very types of extremely disturbing and influential themes that parents need to be aware of when their own children are partaking of these constantly since their kids may go out in the real world and “execute” what they learn.
Let’s break it down:
killing, abuse, criminal behavior, sex and violence towards women, and obscene gestures.
Your choice,
the above negative topics your children are being subjected to continually,
OR
observing human anatomy in a clean, respectful non-sexual way that is part of every human being on earth, which they are going to see anyway at some point!
It seems as though a lot of parents make an incorrect conclusion, which is one of the causes contributing to women being raped continually. I’m sure that boys make up the majority of players of these games, so they grow up to imitate what they grew up with, hence practice rape and other abhorrent delinquencies.
Did you notice that the AACAP mentioned sex not once but TWICE while referring to video games?
Remember, these are the video games that are rated fine for kids down to 10-years-old.
Is violence and rape of women not sexual?
Rape is always about power and sex, not to mention the blatant disregard and disrespect towards women. I don’t comprehend why a parent would ever desire to allow their children to get involved with the themes mentioned above repeatedly, but then they feel that a human body glanced at for a mere minute by their children will have an adverse effect on them.
What parents should do is have their kids go outside to play with.... perhaps other children?!
Maybe have them move around and exercise instead of stagnating on the couch, would be a fresh and much more educational option.
They would socialize and learn about.... REAL life!
They would be around REAL people and experience what life REALLY is about, instead of constant fakery.
They would talk to REAL people.
Ask questions they have, to REAL people.
Socialize with actual REAL human beings.
They would understand REAL-LIFE situations and meet decent people.
What a concept!
One that is unheard of these days. Now, it’s all about social media and texting everyone all over the place; they are hypnotized by their phone. Parents should be more concerned with what their children see daily rather than what they might catch a glimpse of for less than a minute. In real life, violence and the rest of the cruelty children are continually exposed to can then spiral out to innocent people while having a dramatic impact on all of us.
Parents need to get their priorities straight!
We’ve already seen that our bodies are completely natural and beautiful without even a hint of sexual innuendoes, but I have also proven, as promised, that the violence that is transferred to young, impressionable children while their parents are oblivious to what their children are being inundated with, is far more harmful.
So, it’s safe to conclude that parents are clueless about what they allow their child to experience. Also, parents are oblivious to where the real actual harm to children is, according to numerous studies.
The very next article, again from a reputable source, Dr. V. Dunckley, explains the exact effect of video games on unsuspecting children. She explains, “a perfect storm is brewing.” as she takes us on a wild ride as to what a child goes through as he is exposed to the very harmful and frightening effects of video games.
First, his heart rate “increases from 80 to over 100 beats per minute, and his blood pressure rises from a normal 90/60 to 140/90” as he’s ready to do battle while stagnating on the couch. She then relays that levels “of the feel-good chemical dopamine rise in his brain as it shuts off other parts it considers nonessential.” All this intensifies his preparedness for conflict or escape!
When his mom has had enough and shuts down the game, he is enraged!
After he slams his door, his very childish, primitive mind is fully engaged like a predator on a hunt for any inviting prey, while ready for a deadly duel with anyone. He angrily gets into bed while throwing his light and smashing it on the floor. Now, all he’s thinking is how his mother is against him and how he will get her back. As an end to the evening, he kicks his bedroom door forcefully. Then she explains that the dopamine and the adrenaline in his body begin to slow, his rage loses focus.
It doesn’t stop there just yet.
She also indicated that the boy, Aiden, can’t think straight or calm down because stress hormones are too high as he’s trying to get to sleep.
But Aiden isn’t quite out of the woods yet; that very night, he suddenly awakens after he has panic attacks more than a couple of times. It’s definitely not good to have a racing heart and blood pounding in his ears. The good doctor does mention one critical note, “it will take weeks before his body, brain, and mind return to some sense of balance.” Certainly, it is NOT good to remain in a confused or suspended state for WEEKS! She also makes it crystal clear that if this suspended state occurs too often or too intensely, his brain and body are always under chronic stress.
.
Dunkley also makes a couple more pertinent points.
She lists the long-lasting effects of what children experience from constant exposure:
“he will have trouble paying attention, managing emotions, suppressing impulses, following directions, tolerating frustration, accessing creativity and compassion, and executing tasks.”
Her last and most crucial point is, “repeatedly enduring fight-or-flight responses when survival is not an issue does more harm than good.” At this juncture, I think brief nudity is a much more preferable sight than all these effects of constant vegetation with sinister dissimulation. If I haven’t convinced you yet, let’s continue with one final article.
Cheryl Maguire lists 6 negative effects caused by playing video games, in which she informs us about a time when she took her son to a doctor. He stated that her son started having nervous tics after playing so many video games, causing over-stimulation of his brain. She seems to agree with Dunkley as she explains, “when my son isn’t playing video games, his brain craves this stimulation which can cause the tics and other problems.” After a few weeks of no video games, he stopped being so isolated since he was socializing with others. He also appeared less annoyed and much more content. Guess who she mentioned in her article, yes, Dr. Dunckley, as well as the doctor’s book, Reset Your Child’s Brain.
In her book, she defines “electronic screen syndrome (ESS) as a child who experiences symptoms of hyperarousal that cause impairment in some aspect of the child’s life. These behaviors can mimic other disorders such as tics, ADHD, or Bipolar.”
Maguire accurately lists the six negative effects caused by video games:
Overstimulation of the Sensory System
Psychologically Addictive
Sleep Disturbances
Impaired Social Interactions
Poor Sense of Time
Mood Dysregulation
After examining and reviewing all the evidence, it is quite obvious that I have proven,
nudity does NOT harm children!.
I have proven:
NO harmful effects by children seeing or being around tasteful nudity.
In fact, nudity can actually benefit children in many ways.
Finally, all evidence that has been presented shows constant exposure from incessant video games they play has perpetual adverse effects for long term.
If some of you still disagree with this, then you really are just closing your eyes to the truth right in front of you. I’m sure that even though you have seen that all evidence has been given in a thorough and concise manner, some will still take NO beneficial actions and continue shielding the inevitable, yet continuing the deception of video games that may lead to a multitude of atrocities later in life.