Sharon, ON- August 6 - Souvenirs in the gift shop. as the Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park has fully re-opened after several long months of lockdowns and restrictions, though you might see staff and guests wearing one piece of fabric, a facemask. in Sharon. August 6, 2021. Steve Russell/Toronto Star
Being around nudity isn’t hurting kids. Take it from me, a dad who owns a naturist park
When you’ve spent your entire adulthood embracing naturism (the practice of not wearing clothing to achieve body acceptance), as I have, you get accustomed to the general population’s confusion about what the movement entails. However, fallout from a recent misinformed and misleading viral social media post about children and skinny-dipping has tested my patience when it comes to misconceptions about naturism.
When you’ve spent your entire adulthood embracing naturism (the practice of not wearing clothing to achieve body acceptance), as I have, you get accustomed to the general population’s confusion about what the movement entails. However, fallout from a recent misinformed and misleading viral social media post about children and skinny-dipping has tested my patience when it comes to misconceptions about naturism.
The brouhaha, concerning the fees and rules for youth members of a group called GTA Skinny Dippers, initially had nothing to do with Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park, a haven for naturists since 1972, which my wife and I have owned and operated since 2006. Yet, thanks to internet trolls, our park and the naturist community as a whole are being slandered as enabling child predators (and worse). Our park has faced violent online threats as a result of this clickbait fiasco, causing us to alert York Regional Police out of concern for member safety.
As the co-president of the International Naturist Federation, and as a father of two sons raised in naturism, I believe I am uniquely qualified to address the perceived risk of predators when it comes to allowing children in naturist environments, as well as being able to speak to the benefits of allowing their participation in naturism.
Firstly, children never come alone to Bare Oaks — they are always there with their parents, ready for a day of swimming, volleyball or any other family-friendly activity that we offer. Secondly, despite living in a culture where social media perpetuates a climate of sexual exploitation, objectification and unnatural perceptions of beauty, children who experience social nudity in a safe environment learn that bodies are as unique as faces.
While at the park children see large bodies, small bodies, pregnant bodies, disabled bodies, elderly bodies and bodies of every colour. They see diversity and variety in the human form. My wife and I raised our kids that way, and I think they are much better for it. If you don’t trust my anecdotal evidence, note that it is backed up by scholarly research on this topic, which has shown that children reared in an atmosphere containing family social nudity benefit from the practice.
Finally, to those who scoff at the notion of any public nudity when it comes to children because somehow it will put them at risk, I say this: It is clear that being dressed has not kept children safe. Those who prey on children are attracted to any place where children can be found and in particular to situations where they can be alone with a child.
It’s a sad reality that they have been found as priests, teachers, youth leaders, sports coaches, et cetera. It is therefore unrealistic to suggest that we should avoid any place that might attract them since we would rob our children of all of those institutions that are so important to their upbringing. The best thing we can do to protect our children is to teach them body understanding and acceptance — naturist or not.
As the Enough Abuse Campaign suggests: “When we teach kids the standard medical names [of their body parts], they are more likely to be better protected. They are also more likely to be able to avoid abuse or talk about it, if it happens.” If a child is not ashamed of their body, they are much more likely to tell their parents if someone crosses a boundary with them.
Canadian children are being raised in a society where they are constantly encouraged to feel shame and insecurity about their bodies. If parents are going to worry about anything when it comes to children and nudity it should be about the ill-effects of unrealistic representations of bodies on social media, the prevalence of pornography and how their own hang-ups about their bodies affect their children. Leave naturists alone. We are part of the solution — not the problem.
Stéphane Deschênes is the owner of Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park and has taught a course about nudity at the University of Toronto. He has been hosting the The Naturist Living Show podcast since 2008.
