Nudes in school

[Yvonne Belisle]

Should nude artwork be shown in schools? Examples statues, paintings ect......

[loopy]

Hmm... good question. I think great artwork should be observed and studied... however, I also know that I wasn't mature enough to look at said art without giggling my head off for a quite a few years. :D

Maybe at older levels? I mean, yes, maturity ranges a bit in high schools, but you're bound to find some who sincerely want to learn.

I guess it just depends on how appreciative the students are, you know? Why let it go to waste?

[Socharis]

Originally posted by loopy
Hmm... good question. I think great artwork should be observed and studied... however, I also know that I wasn't mature enough to look at said art without giggling my head off for a quite a few years. :D

Maybe at older levels? I mean, yes, maturity ranges a bit in high schools, but you're bound to find some who sincerely want to learn.

I guess it just depends on how appreciative the students are, you know? Why let it go to waste?

its ok, kid should know what a naked body looks like.

[SimplyStrange]

Originally posted by Socharis


its ok, kid should know what a naked body looks like.

Yes, and if they don't by the time they're in high school...it's best they learned...

Besides, sometimes nude artwork is the most beautiful. But you'd have to take into consideration that there are some parents out there that would flip if they knew their kids were being shown that...sometimes things would work out perfectly in schools if it weren't for parents...

[Socharis]

Originally posted by SimplyStrange


Yes, and if they don't by the time they're in high school...it's best they learned...

Besides, sometimes nude artwork is the most beautiful. But you'd have to take into consideration that there are some parents out there that would flip if they knew their kids were being shown that...sometimes things would work out perfectly in schools if it weren't for parents...

I agree but it really does depend on the parents.

[loopy]

Originally posted by Socharis


its ok, kid should know what a naked body looks like.

I get that. I wasn't saying some kids are too young to see a naked body. That's the parents' decisions.

What I meant was, you show a kid who's so embarrassed or so young that he can't look at a naked statue without cracking up and gasping with his friends, and I think they miss the point of the art itself. Too busy looking at parts to see the whole figure, too giggly to get beyond the "naked" part into the "Art" part.

Or something.

[flar7]

It is essential to develop an appreciation of art to start at an early age. So, yes, they should be shown in school. I would start at the 7th grade level and inform parents in advance that a nude art exhibit was upcoming. This way the parent can decide whether it is the right time for their child to view what some others may view as questionable.
At high school (10th and up) I feel that parents should probably no longer need to be notified, because at that time their kids are seeing things worse than Michaelangelo's "David" (This being one of my favorite sculptures and most influential on my artistic life.)

[Semele]

I very much remember in 7th grade...ok it was in detention but anyway...these guys were passing around National Geographic...showing off the nudity!!! I just don't think that they will see or benefit from the art of it. Just my opinion...of course I wouldn't be one of the parents opposed to it. I think that a few of the more artful minded students may even grasp the beauty of it...but definately not all of them. Just hate to think of them laughing and making jokes about something so great that they are too nervous or afraid to admit how it touches their soul!

[flar7]

Ok, Semele. Are we talking about a National Geographic with pictures of Nude art or Natives of Papua New Guinea or Africa?

Just wonderin?

Yes, 7th graders can be childish, but you are trying to reach them on a deeper level. Sometimes you do, sometimes you dont.




"Remember, wherever you go, there you are...??"

[loopy]

Originally posted by Semele
I very much remember in 7th grade...ok it was in detention but anyway...these guys were passing around National Geographic...showing off the nudity!!! I just don't think that they will see or benefit from the art of it. Just my opinion...of course I wouldn't be one of the parents opposed to it. I think that a few of the more artful minded students may even grasp the beauty of it...but definately not all of them. Just hate to think of them laughing and making jokes about something so great that they are too nervous or afraid to admit how it touches their soul!

That's what I meant! :D

Suddenly it's all so much clearer to me... :D

[Semele]

Originally posted by flar7
Ok, Semele. Are we talking about a National Geographic with pictures of Nude art or Natives of Papua New Guinea or Africa?

Just wonderin?

Yes, 7th graders can be childish, but you are trying to reach them on a deeper level. Sometimes you do, sometimes you dont.




"Remember, wherever you go, there you are...??"

I am saying whether it be National Geographic, nude art, or Playboy...some 7th graders are gonna miss the point alltogether. Not to say it is going to scar them for life or anything though...just palying Mol's advocate...er I mean Devil's advocate...ooops!

[mol]

Originally posted by Semele


I am saying whether it be National Geographic, nude art, or Playboy...some 7th graders are gonna miss the point alltogether. Not to say it is going to scar them for life or anything though...just palying Mol's advocate...er I mean Devil's advocate...ooops!

Are you calling me The Devil? *raised eyebrow*

It all depends on the individual unfortunately. Some younger viewers might actually see art, some might think its funny, and in this day and age...some will see it as sex.

[Tigerwallah]

I think it causes the psyche more damage to be sheltered from nudity than to be shown it openly. We are all naked underneath our clothes, afterall. So, shouldn't our children learn that their bodies aren't shameful and only sexual in nature? Letting them view nudity openly dispatches the giggles and feelings of shame associated with our bodies and eventual puberty.

[Tigerwallah]

Besides, most artists portrayed the human figure in a very realistic light. Better your kids get a look at Botticelli and Reubens than that all too unatainable nude in playboy that we all see at a friends house, or sneak a peek at at the local news stand.

[Lucidia]

i am still confused as to why people are afraid of looking at naked people.

once a child reaches puberty, they're going to be curious about sex whether or not they look at some classical statue or painting of a naked person, and looking at art isn't going to push them down the road to promiscuity. Most kids will just giggle and blush and forget all about it. Next thing you know they'll be blaming teenage pregnancy on a school trip to the museum. Whether or not someone chooses to have sex before marriage, before they're 18, or whether someone chooses to be celibate their whole life, I don't see why nudity is something that we should hide from them. If we hide all nudity from children/teens, then they are going to be TWICE as curious, and eventually, when they realize that most of the reasoning behind hiding the artwork is moral, or based on some fear of defiling their little virgin minds, then they'll always relate nudity to sex, since they were never even given the chance to learn about it on a non-sexual level (and a lot of parents don't talk to their kids about that stuff, mind never said ANYTHING), and since the reason that all this artwork was hidden from them was probably to keep them from being interested or understanding anything about sexual organs/etc. (that almost everyone has, and SHOULD be educated about on a NON-sexual level) We're all naked under our clothing, and I just don't understand why we're (as an society) totally ashamed and/or frightened of the image of the naked self.

*shrugs*

[Swanspirit]

I SO dont understand the big deal over nudity ........it is not the same as sex .....
this American society has been so inundated with Puritan values, that we cannot even appreciate the sheer beauty of the human body without shame.
With early exposure to ART not just nudity ,
children deepen their sense of self worth by seeing the body as vehicle for the communication of beauty , love , agony what ever the artist is portraying. There are nude statues all over Europe, and you dont see the Europeans throwing covers over them or keeping their children indoors to protect them from art.
"shakes head " and hands you a Botticelli , or a Rubens or a Titian or a Michaelangelo, or a Donatelli or EVEN a Maxfield Parrish ......
I think anything that would help children deepen their sense of culture and appreciation of the human condition would lessen the preoccupation with sex that repression produces , not to mention reducing the shame, and fear instilled by centuries of the idea that the human form ESPECIALLY the female is "Wicked" and Sinful.
Love and Light
Swannie



" one's true Self, the soul, to be worshipped in the Temple of sacred rivers; here are
the sun and the moon, as well as all the holy places of pilgrimage. I have not encountered another Temple as blissful as my own body."
Saraha
Doha ( Tibetan song of teaching)

[Alphyna]

While I was in high School, grades 10 - 12 we always had to sketch nudes, not in person, but from refrences on the overhead projecter. There were tons of kids who should have been giggling, but because it was so normal, and treated as any other study, no one made a big deal of it. Our tests were usually nude female figure drawings. Which was great for testing all of the proprtions. But when I moved to a new school, in Southern Alberta, nudes were not allowed, not even in personal work. I think if it's treated right it is fine.

Concerning giggling children, the reason they think it is so funny, and so astounding that they are being allowed to see it, is exactly that. Most children grow up without seeing nudity, and being tought that it's not right to see it, or explore it altogether. So of course they are going to laugh.
My husband and I are at home nudists, and we have a 2 year old son, who still sees us naked, wlking around the house, and he's usually naked as well. He seems very comfortable with himself, and does not see it as out of the ordinary when we take him to exhibits in gallerys with nudity.
I think it is a totally healthy way to grow up.
Once we are comfortable with the nude body, then maybe are children will follow our ways, and accept it and celebrate it.
Many Bright Blessings, Alphyna

[Swanspirit]

For a very Lucid answer.....
And I just checked your profile and we share a BIRTHDAY and many other intersts..... come on over to astrology and join in some of the discussions there as well
Merrily Met
Swannie

[Shadow Stalker]

MM...

Im my old school...we saw nudes (not in the flesh) but in books, ect. but not until years 10.

Even then the teachers had to send out permission slips with the kids to be able to look at the stuff.....

I dont have a problem with nudity, and I personally see no problem with it...but a girl in my class was not able to view the nude status, or anyother contents because her parents said no and then made a big protest about the school showing porn to children!

This poor girl was embarressed for the rest of the term by bullies in our class. And the parents kicked up a stink over nothing, and we never heard another thing about them.

We are all nakked under these clothes...and I for one will make sure my daughter knows that the nakked body is something that is to be admired, not sniggered at.

I scetch nude art, and do nude photography, and there is nothing to snigger at about my work, though I must admit, I have had some people want some shots done that I have said no to....I am an artist, not a porn photographer....

I dont know what is the matter with people who are so adamently against nude art, but there are many people out there...I was even asked to take down my nude sketches and photos from my own web site, by a woman in the same ninemsn community, when I said no, she accused me of harming children....My site has a warning under the link that if people are offended by nude art not to poceed, and if they do click on the link another scrip come up with another warning about the page...she then told me that if I didnot pull the page down she would block me from the community....I told her not to bother as I will leave.

I dont need that kind of harrassment every time I go to a community.

Anyways...the sooner people accept nudity as part of life, the better our children will react to it....I mean...we dont bath with our clothes on do we?

Blessings

Shadow

[Swanspirit]

I love looking at other peoples work , and sharing mine ..... and I dont mind feedback either :>
Love and Light
Swannie
this is one of mine :>

[Xois]

at any and all levels!

[Branwen]

I'm not a parent, I'm a kid, I graduate from high school in spring. When I was young, nudity was never hiden from me. I knew what my dad looked like naked and what my mom looked like naked. It was natural to look at a naked person. It wasn't until I started Kindergarden that I lerned that some people think being nake was 'gross' and looking at a naked person, in art or other wise. It shoked me and scared me into a false modosy issue.

Basicaly, my point is that our culure does not promote the naked body as a beautiful thing. It is shown as something For perverts to look at. Nude art should be show in schools, but it probaly will not catch on, our culture will need to change first.

[mol]

Originally posted by Branwen
I'm not a parent, I'm a kid, I graduate from high school in spring. When I was young, nudity was never hiden from me. I knew what my dad looked like naked and what my mom looked like naked. It was natural to look at a naked person. It wasn't until I started Kindergarden that I lerned that some people think being nake was 'gross' and looking at a naked person, in art or other wise. It shoked me and scared me into a false modosy issue.

Basicaly, my point is that our culure does not promote the naked body as a beautiful thing. It is shown as something For perverts to look at. Nude art should be show in schools, but it probaly will not catch on, our culture will need to change first.

Very insightful...

And that is where the real changes will need to be made. The fact that we are discussing this is proof. We need to change society's views, which can be a very hard thing to do. :p

[willowfairy]

nudity (in the art form) it ok with me. i'm 12, in the 7th grade, and don't giggle and blush like my peers.

i think i came to accept nude art over the past year because i came to see it more frequently. tarot cards, wiccan/pagan art sites, etc. i think it is beautiful, not something to laugh at. porn is gross, though. :D

it really irked me when a person in my class last year started laughing when we were reading about how you can tell an alligator's sex. DUH! sex = gender? that was so immature.

and i really think people should show nude art because like some of you said, you wont blush or giggle. kids will understand that the naked body is natural. and they wouldn't think playboy is cool if they learned how to respect nudity.

[arewynn]

i would be inclined to say no myself for no other reason than
it would be disrespectful to some.school is such a melding pot of people with different beleifs also it is not as simple to say you can for warn a parent and they can choose to not attend that could cause a problem with attendence issues as well.it is definitly unexceptable to expose peoples children to anything without their
knowledge that takes away from a parent ,they're right to be involved. i think it is more a mater of respecting each others beleifs .
arewynn

[flar7]

but I think it important to show Nude art in schools. You notify the parents in advance and if they object billy misses that day or class. It happens all the time in school with other events and occasions. Dont kill the frog. Dont do team sports. etc.
Respect of beliefs is what notifying the parent is about.
And it isnt like they would see nude art everyday or even once a week. Probably would be a semi annual thing.

[Nyx]

As an artist, I see nothing wrong with looking at, or even drawing nudes. I was shown my first picture of a nude at 4. In the art world at least, we distinguish between "nudes" and being naked. A nude painting of a women is different than the pictures you get in a Playboy. Conseqently,showing a class slides of famous nude pieces to go along with a lecture is not the same thing as showing them pornography. With that said, I think showing nudes to children of any age is fine. I do think that parents should have say up until the age of perhaps 13 or 14, when a child can readily decide ahead of time if such images will make them uncomfortable, or violate a religious doctrine of theirs.

~~Nyx~~

[Yvonne Belisle]

I am so glad to see that even though I was gone for a bit this topic stayed around with 4 kids in school I was interested in the topic.