Old Enough to Make a Lanyard, and to Do It Nude

new york times ^ | 6 18 03 | KATE ZERNIKE

[freepatriot32]

UTZ, Fla., June 12 — On the third-to-last day of summer camp, the temperature has risen to 98 degrees, and even the troupers have begun to whine.

"I don't want to play strip volleyball!" complained Jane Jeffries, 13, her sunburned shoulders sagging. "I want to play regular volleyball."

Halie Nelson, 14, agreed, "Yeah, I'd rather get all the clothes off, and keep all the clothes off."

[curmudgeonII]

I'll be the guy that plays straight man on this. I can imagine naked volleyball, but what is strip volleyball?

[dennisw]

Nudity under the summer Florida sun is to invite severe sunburn and skin cancer.

[ChemistCat]

Don't worry. They do say that the sunscreen police are paying closer attention, don't they?

---
Lewd is what the culture says it is. This is a subculture that has placed that mark at a very different level than the rest of American cultures do. I would guess that if you're naked all the time, and everyone around you is naked all the time, it ceases to be a shock. I remember coming back to the US after ten years in Turkey--necklines and hemlines shocked me for awhile, till I became used to it again.

[lelio]

There was some recent talk in England about allowing your children to get a severe sunburn a crime. Yes, the nanny state has expanded to telling you about what SPF lotion you should put on your kids skin.

[dennisw]

Now that I put my thinking cap on they are likely nude but in the shade a lot. Or nude and in the water. Under a shaded shelter or a natural one ...a tree.

[rudypoot]

In general, women feel more comfortable undressing in front of men then in front of other women. Because women are more critical of other women while men are just plain grateful.

[rhema]

Columnist Joe Soucheray in today's St. Paul Pioneer Press: Today's kids are right about the wages of sun

[ChemistCat]

If you think about this TOO much the FBI will be after you.


;-)

[Savage Beast]

Uh... When I was a kid we went swimming naked at boy scout camp, and bathing suits were not allowed at the YMCA.

[You Dirty Rats]

Coed?

[Savage Beast]

No, we were just little kids. Coed skinny dipping and sunbathing happened much later (and was a lot more fun).

[lowbridge]

The Nudist/Naturalist Hall Of Shame

[HatSteel]

There is always the possibility that adults who enjoy stories of 13 year olds taking their clothes off are paedophiliacs.

[Piranha]

"Everybody keeps an eye on the children," George Jeffries, Jane's father, said.

Hah! That's what we're afraid of!

[HatSteel]

Yep.

[Steve0113]

"It makes me a bit freaked out that people would think of nudity as a sexual thing," said Michelle Jones, 15, a camper from Texas.

Has she ever heard of pornography?

[AZLiberty]

In a related article:

"Sure, it could be a magnet for pedophiles, but we don't let it be. We screen everyone thoroughly and, thanks to the governor, we can check online to see if someone's a sex offender," he said.

[snip]

Also unusually, counselors outnumber the kids. They range in age from 19 to 25, and all have been thoroughly trained.

"There's 1 1/2 counselors for each camper," Roche said.

---

They probably don't even have to pay them.

[nmh]

Twenty years from now if they are still around, they'll probably have skin cancer ALL over their body.

[AZLiberty]

Uh... When I was a kid we went swimming naked at boy scout camp, and bathing suits were not allowed at the YMCA.

I wonder, now, about the old no-suit policy at the YMCA. I remember asking why we weren't supposed to wear suits. The YMCA supervisor told us that lint from the suits would clog the pool's filtration system.

Yeah, right.