Don't Strip your Kids!

[naomi78155]

We were at MK last Wednesday and in front of a snack stand in FantasyLand, DH and I saw a little girl, around age 7, wearing nothing but panties. I thought it was strange, until we saw her mom take the panties off, leaving the girl completely naked. We covered DS eyes and walked off as quickly as we could.
DH thought maybe they were from Europe or something, but please, don't strip your kids in public. It was totally gross.

 

[adventure_woman]

7?! That is a little old . My first thought too was that they may have been from Europe. (Funny story - when I was in Spain once, an old lady stood up, put a towel around herself and totally changed her bathing suit and got dressed - ON THE BEACH! I was in shock! Eww...)

My DD was 2 and I changed her into her bathing suit with a towel around her...This time, with her almost being 3 I'm thinking we'll have to change in the bathroom.

 

[aTasteOfHeaven]

Wow....that's a little too old. I was trying to protect my daughter's modesty and block any view when I changed her diaper (in the stroller) at the zoo.

 

[PoohHappens]

Ok, I will probably get it for this but..........while I agree in this country we do not run around naked and we do not feel it is appropriate for a 7 year old to be naked in public, I think covering your child's eyes and running away was a little much. For me I think that makes a bigger deal about it. Unless it was a very unusual 7 year old there really would be nothing to see. I think I would choose to just not bring attention to it at all and move on. If my child had questions I would explain that we do not feel that is appropriate and we keep our private areas covered. I might cover my child's eyes for an adult naked running around, but a 7yr old has nothing you can't see on a 2 year old. This is just me. I also feel you need to do what is needed and appropriate for your family, so if that is was what was needed for your DS you as the parent need to make that choice. I would be more worried about the 7 year old because that is an age where children desire privacy--but again if that is not the envoirment where she was from she would have been comfortable, as inappropriate as we feel it is.

So yes I agree that we should not strip our children in public here in the US. But at the same time I do not feel I need to get real uptight about something as long as it is not abuse.

 

[talulabelle]

Must have been European. Totally different sense of modesty and at what age it becomes wierd. My friend from France thinks we are crazy that we worry about covering up our kids in the hot summer with one piece bathingsuits etc. To her, to assume anyone would care would mean they must be a pervert. When she is gardening and gets hot, she thinks NOTHING of ripping off her tshirt and just wearing a white sport bra. To her, the sport bra is a top in and of itself. I try to tell her "when in Rome" or in our case "when in the US, especially , the SOUTHERN US" But she just doesn't get it .

 

[~Kristina~]

Not so concerned about the age (though I don't think it's right), but rather child predators. Yikes! It may be Disney, but freaks are everywhere.

 

[moray26]

This story actually reminded me of something rather unpleasant I saw last week at Epcot. I was eating in Chefs de France, seated at one of the seats along the window that overlooks the lagoon, so naturally I was people-watching while waiting for my food. A woman and a little girl, probably about 6 or 7 years old, come walking along and sorta stop and look around at "France," as if they're waiting for someone. Then, the woman grasps the girls wrists and starts swinging her around, much to the little girl's delight. Unfortunately for me, I got a full-on anatomical view up the little girl's sundress as her mom swung her off the ground. So please parents, check your children for proper undergarments.

 

[mjkacmom]

Ok, I will probably get it for this but..........while I agree in this country we do not run around naked and we do not feel it is appropriate for a 7 year old to be naked in public, I think covering your child's eyes and running away was a little much. For me I think that makes a bigger deal about it. Unless it was a very unusual 7 year old there really would be nothing to see. I think I would choose to just not bring attention to it at all and move on. If my child had questions I would explain that we do not feel that is appropriate and we keep our private areas covered. I might cover my child's eyes for an adult naked running around, but a 7yr old has nothing you can't see on a 2 year old. This is just me. I also feel you need to do what is needed and appropriate for your family, so if that is was what was needed for your DS you as the parent need to make that choice. I would be more worried about the 7 year old because that is an age where children desire privacy--but again if that is not the envoirment where she was from she would have been comfortable, as inappropriate as we feel it is.

So yes I agree that we should not strip our children in public here in the US. But at the same time I do not feel I need to get real uptight about something as long as it is not abuse.

I agree. No, I would never strip dd6 or dd8 in public, but I wouldn't shield ds6's eyes either - heck, around here, he's seen his sisters naked so much, he wouldn't bat an eye!

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Totally a European thing. There was a beach in the town the boys went to school in, and kids totally changed from clothes to naked to suits right on the beach. I probably wouldn't even think twice about it these days, but it would be a bit weird to see in the Southern US...

Funny story about modesty and living in Europe. We used to take a tram to the city center, and one of the stops on our route was opposite a billboard. I don't remember what it was advertising, but the billboard had 5 women in g-strings and cowboy hats. Our Southern raised, then 9 yo ds said "daddy, daddy! look at that sign!" My dh is ready to sink into his chair, but he gamely answers "yes (name)?", all the while thinking 'how do I handle this?'.

"They're all wearing cowboy hats!"

LOL - our kids think more European than Southern anymore.

 

[BeccaBellePA]

Wow! I thought it was a little bad when I saw parents changing diapers all along the sidewalk a few months ago at DHS. I can honestly say I never saw any naked children running around WDW. Did any CMs do anything? Does Disney even have a naked child policy? As odd as that may sound...

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

Ok, I will probably get it for this but..........while I agree in this country we do not run around naked and we do not feel it is appropriate for a 7 year old to be naked in public, I think covering your child's eyes and running away was a little much. For me I think that makes a bigger deal about it. Unless it was a very unusual 7 year old there really would be nothing to see. I think I would choose to just not bring attention to it at all and move on. If my child had questions I would explain that we do not feel that is appropriate and we keep our private areas covered. I might cover my child's eyes for an adult naked running around, but a 7yr old has nothing you can't see on a 2 year old. This is just me. I also feel you need to do what is needed and appropriate for your family, so if that is was what was needed for your DS you as the parent need to make that choice. I would be more worried about the 7 year old because that is an age where children desire privacy--but again if that is not the envoirment where she was from she would have been comfortable, as inappropriate as we feel it is.

So yes I agree that we should not strip our children in public here in the US. But at the same time I do not feel I need to get real uptight about something as long as it is not abuse.

I agree. I think the mother that shielded her son's eyes has the bigger problem than the mom who took off her 7 yo (and do we even know for sure how old the girl was - could've been younger) clothes.

 

[sabrecmc]

My brother is a deputy and sometimes works the cybercrimes unit. Please, please do not strip your children down in public. You are in a public place where you don't know the kind of people around you, some of whom may just be snapping pictures of your naked or half-dressed child to trade on websites we all wish did not exist.

 

[ancestry]

The "puritan" views that still exist in our country never cease to amaze me.

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Not being funny but do you not think its a bit judgemental to say that they must be European?

I would not strip my children down in public. And I have seen a lot of things done throughout the US on my travels that are just as bad.

You might be speaking for yourself but noone is going to believe that noone in the US would do that. You can't make sweeping judgements that everyone in a whole continent has the same standards as you do.

 

[tartemis]

I have to agree with pps that have said it isn't that big of deal. Would I personally strip my 7 year old down naked in the middle of everyone? No. If somebody else was doing it would I even look twice or worry about shielding my child's eyes? Absolutely No.

I'm a proud American that thinks this is the best country on earth, but I do think that some of our views of sexuality and nakedness are screwed up. For example, I would totally let my 19 month old girl swim in nothing but a swim diaper but I would never put her in a bikini -- because while I think nakedness is more natural than anything, I consider bikini's to be more sexual and given that a toddler has no reason to be touting her sexuality, I would never put her in one. I think most people would probably disagree with me, though.

 

[bookgirl]

Okay I'm fairly modest, but I wouldn't have thought twice about stripping down a young child to undies to change clothes as long as it was somewhat private. As for the full monty I probably would have at least tried to shield them. That being said 7 would be about my limit on age. My nephews are about to be 10 one has been super modest for about a year the other is just now starting to at least think about modesty. But before that at home it was no holds bar (can we say naked in the pool is very appealing to little boys and mooning is the height of hilarity), in public 7 or 8 is just about the time that they would absolutley not have gone down more than shorts only. Were you near a splash park? I'm trying to figure out the need to be change in the park anyway.

 

[NotUrsula]

I was raised by European immigrant parents in the Deep South, and I ran around half-dressed all the time 45 years ago, and so did all my "native" friends. Seriously, that whole "Southern modesty" thing when it comes to kids is fairly new, at least when it comes to playwear. Young girls wore really short dresses then, with ruffled panties that were meant to show. Going topless in the summer when playing outdoors was fairly common for little kids a half-century ago, before air-conditioning became common. It was hot as blazes, and it was practical, so no one thought anything of it if we were playing.

Now, skipping the panties IS an issue, I'll grant. Kids do sometimes forget, and with some girls you have to make it point to make sure they remember. I don't have an issue with them just being naked for a minute or two whilst changing clothes quickly, however.

I still have a few summer outfits that I wore when I was not yet in school, and I know that if I dressed DD in them I'd get funny looks. They are what used to be called "sunsuits", little bloomers with an attached pinafore with crossed straps in the back. These days if you see a little girl wearing one she will have a tee on underneath, but we never did. They looked like this, and the top part did not cover anything important; it was just there for looks and to anchor the straps that kept the thing up:

I have a photo of my sister and a cousin playing in the yard wearing outfits similar to this when they were at least 6, and there were boys there playing with them; riding bikes and swinging a baseball bat.

Also, remember the little girl in the Coppertone ad? No top, and that was pretty normal. I saw that swim-bloomers-only look all the time on Florida beaches in the early 1960's. When bikinis became really popular in the late 60's, it mysteriously became necessary for little girls to wear tops, but it really hadn't been before.

I've been known to quickly change my kids' clothing next to a bush in a theme park if they get very wet or very messy, but only while they are still preschoolers. I bow to American sensibilities on that, and besides, once they reach school age they want to do it themselves, and they are just too slow for changing out in the open.

 

[diavolobella]

I guess my biggest question is why anyone would need to strip off their child's clothes, including their underwear, in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. You did say this happened at MK, right? It's not like Blizzard Beach or a swim park where you might expect to need to change a child out of a wet swimsuit. Why would a child need to be stripped totally naked in the first place? I mean, I could see changing a shirt, pants, or something if the child had gotten sick or wet themselves, but wouldn't you need to do that in the restroom anyway since ostensibly they would need cleaning up aside from just changing the clothing. Why would you need to strip them bare naked. I don't get it.

If I had to change my child's clothes, I'd find a restroom to do it in. I sure wouldn't let the kid be running around naked under any circumstances. WEIRD.

 

[djp0630]

I agree with a pp and would worry about child predators. There are too many freaks out there and I definitely wouldn't want anybody to see my 7 year old naked. I wouldn't think it would be a big deal for other kids to see the kid, since it's not like they are developed or anything.

 

[NHdisneylover]

With all due repsect to the Scottish PP I do think the odds are the family was from Europe. Changing a child (or even at times an adult) in public is much more common in many parts of Europe than anywhere in the US (and most posters who said "probably european" did not seem to mean that as an insult in any way--I certainly don't).

Personally, I think the trend in the US to get so upset by this stuff actually feeds predators. It sexualizes normal childhood behaviours and bodies. yes, some people are truly perverted and will see it that way no matter what--but I think we are making it seem "normal" to see a child as sexy when we make such an issue of it and insist it is inappropriate (not that I change mine in public, but had I raised them here I probably would). As the PP who included the Coppertone ad and her sunsuit photo in her post points out--this used to be common in the US as well.