Foley, of West Palm Beach, has hit the national TV and radio talk-show circuit in recent weeks to bash a Tampa-area summer camp not unlike most camps -- except that the boys and girls, ages 11-18, are naked. If I recall correctly, the camp boasted a ratio of 1.5 counselors to every kid. Do clothed camps usually offer this much observation of the minors by young adults?
If these kids went over to a nude sleepover at a friends house, do you think that most of America might send up some red flags? (I do recall that Dear Abbey fell for this as a hoax one time but was all for it, she even reran the letter a couple of years later, there is an FR thread on it somewhere).
The lack of parental presence is one danger sign about this type of camp. The NY Times article even included the comment that some kids are shy and self-conscious about their nudity their first time at the camp. Doesn't sound like it is fully their decision to be there. Why not let the kids go clothing optional (undressing only as much or if they want to)?
Someone mentioned Hippie Hollow (in Austin) in the other thread but that park in Texas has an age of 18 years minimum.
If parents want to bring their kids up a nudists, I don't think that it qualifies outright as child abuse. However, where does indecent exposure in front of a minor begin? Obviously at the camp there are strangers present and add to that the parents of the kids are not present (some are sent in from out of state).
"Obviously at the camp there are strangers present and add to that the parents of the kids are not present (some are sent in from out of state)."
Another article about the camp said they were very very watchful of people who don't belong there being kept away. It said they guard very carefully to prevent perverts from attempting to get nearby just to watch the kids. Of course that wasn't their wording but a summary of the point they were getting across. Some of the children were a bit self-conscious at first apparently because they are normally around mostly adults or very young children at nudist get togethers. Plus, all kids that age are self-conscious when they meet new people regardless of what they are or are not wearing. If I remember correctly they also do thorough background checks on all their staff as well. They probably have better staff than most regular kid camps because if something happened with one of the kids at this type of camp all hell would break loose and it would get them all shut down I'm sure. They should have each of the kids write an essay at the end of their camp visit about their experience there and publish them for everyone to read. I wonder if they have an email address or a number I could call to suggest that. It might ease some of the worries a lot of people have about it.