children in communal changing rooms

jellyhead

Gavin83 wrote: »

I think it's too old. I wouldn't particularly want a girl of 8+ in the mens changing rooms.

As long as they can dry and dress themselves I don't see why they can't go in their own changing room. I would expect an 8 year old to be able to do these things. To suggest they'll be abused in there is simply ridiculous.

I don't think they'll be abused, but at 8 some children would still lose their head if it wasn't attached. If they lose something in the men's changing room, mum can't go in and look for it. At 8 some of them would gaze at dust particles for hours, without anyone to hurry them up.

My boy is 7, and they go swimming with school and manage perfectly well, with 3 boys to a cublicle. But they have a teacher in there, reminding them to pick up their goggles, etc.

We don't have separate male and female changing areas in our new pool, but they did in the old one. My 7 year old could go into male changing rooms on his own if we still had them, but my eldest at 7 was a different child. Luckily at 8 he could still come in with me because he was tiny, in age 4 clothes.

mrcow

jellyhead wrote: »

I've started dumping the clothes in empty lockers now, but it still hasn't stopped them from doing it. I'm considering wetting them next week :rotfl::o

I'd put them on the floor in the communal area.

Person_one

thunderbird wrote: »

Not sure if you misread my post Person-one? My concern is the messages that young girls are getting from women who are uncomfortable with being naked, not the ones that do get naked!

Oops, yes, missed the 'un'!

jellyhead

mrcow wrote: »

I'd put them on the floor in the communal area.

:rotfl:

I'm not that mean - yet!

They are either teenagers or kids with their mums, so there's no excuse really. I might start using lockers in other blocks though, so they have to hunt for their stuff

Recently I shifted the stuff across on the bench, and told my son to use the other half of the bench. The family arrived while he was mid-change, and I told them they'd have to wait, and that he couldn't find an empty cubicle because so many people are too lazy and selfish to use a locker. Upon leaving the cublicle, I realised that I knew the mum from the playground

deva

I can't believe people are that bothered about nakedness; we all have bits and nakedness rarely has anything to do with sexuality.

Teaching sre and hearing that few pupils have talked about bodies, hardly any have realistic body image and that nakedness is rude or dirty, compounds the problem with sex going on "behind closed doors" and our poor safe sex rates.

In a class of twenty 14 year old boys, most couldn't believe women's bits naturally had hair or that boobs weren't always the same size and stayed upright. Their sole knowledge was from !!!!!!, meaning their expectations for themselves and their partners is badly distorted and associated with looks rather than love.

We need to stop being prudish and remember we re all naked underneath!

FatVonD

thunderbird wrote: »

I am astounded at how many women on here feel uncomfortable being naked in front of others. I wonder what messages this gives to young girls?

I don't think I'm particularly hung up on being seen naked, in my younger days I would always choose nudist beaches (not because I'm a naturist but because I wanted an all over tan!) but swimming pool changing rooms are not just 'being' naked, they're being naked while wobbling your bits around trying to dry them in close proximity to everyone else!

pigpen

FatVonD wrote: »

I don't think I'm particularly hung up on being seen naked, in my younger days I would always choose nudist beaches (not because I'm a naturist but because I wanted an all over tan!) but swimming pool changing rooms are not just 'being' naked, they're being naked while wobbling your bits around trying to dry them in close proximity to everyone else!

LOL... and bending over shoving your derriere in a 6 or 7 year olds face.. or dangling your boobs on their head... extreme I know but the image tickled me.

Person_one

bigmomma051204

jellyhead wrote: »

Maybe these are the same women she went to antenatal classes and toddler groups with?

Not all pools have a cafe. We got a new pool in my town, and the old one was demolished. The old one had a bar and a cafe. The new one has a variety of vending machines, and the coffee is vile. They don't sell fruit shoots either - they don't sell anything with artificial sweetener, I was told when I asked why they'd taken fruit shoots out of the machine. I don't particularly like fruit shoots, but the full-sugar tango, coke, oasis and drench contain massive amounts of sugar, and I'd forgotten my boy's water.

The vending machines are in the area where parents sit to watch the kids swimming lessons, and are the only seats in the complex. You'd be very lucky to be able to get a chair after coming out of a lesson, because parents would be using them to watch the current lesson.

If she's good friends with the other women though, they could always find somewhere else or go out for a meal, but if it's 7:30 on a school night I'm guessing that they go straight to bed.

Except the OP has already told us that there is a cafe area. So your post is a tad pointless :cool: Sorry

quinechinoise

Agree with this sensible post, below. Going to either changing room, on their own, would leave kids with a bunch of strangers. Much better to stay with whichever parent/carer is there.

Counting_Pennies wrote: »

So you want the children to go alone into the mens changing rooms to see a whole load of men naked they don't know.

If that is your arguement then the children are best with their parent whatever sex they are.

As for the question below...

bigmomma051204 wrote: »

Her point is that there are dedicated FAMILY rooms. Why would any one with mixed sex family NOT use the dedicated rooms is my question....

The OP answered it:

MrsE wrote: »

There are two private cubicles in the changing room, but you can never get in them, they always have shy teenage girls cueing up to use them.
I will wear my cozzie if im in the communal shower, but not if I get into the small private one. But many of the ladies do strip off to shower & we all have to get naked to actually get into or out of our cozzies.

You can't actually use the private/family changing facilities because shy people are hogging them.

It is also interesting to note that the women frequently strip naked to shower, in front of other adults who are actually sexually aware. That is apparently more "okay" than being naked in front of children, who are just thinking *look, another really old stranger*. I think this is a "logic fail".