In school, simple misunderstandings can lead to stress for young nudist children. Ollie, age 9, shared an experience he had in school: “When I was in first grade, I made the teacher mad because we were having a lesson about private areas of our bodies. She asked me who was allowed to see the parts of my body inside my underwear, and I told her everyone!” The teacher thought young Ollie was trying to be silly, but he was genuinely confused by the line of questioning, “I told her my favorite thing to do was to swim with my family and friends naked.” Instead of trying to get context, the teacher assumed Ollie was making things up and insisted that it was inappropriate to let people see him naked. Older now, Ollie still remembers the feeling of being told he was bad. “I couldn’t understand how being happy was a bad thing.”

Sometimes the drama comes from peers and their parents. As 8-year-old Brianna explains, “I remember telling my friend that my family had gone camping naked one weekend.” She notes her friend didn’t seem too flustered by the idea, and Brianna didn’t put much thought into it until she invited her friend for a sleepover. “My friend had no reaction at all to my story and I didn't think anything about it. It wasn't until my birthday sleepover and she said she couldn’t come because her parents didn’t feel safe with my nudist family. I was devastated.”

The families have since mended fences, and the friend’s parents have learned nudists’ parents tend not to be vocal about their lifestyle for this very reason. Despite the friendship being strong, the message was still sent by another family: your being naked is not okay.

Other examples of stress can arise in our houses of worship, where children receive conflicting messages about being made in the image of God, yet to be ashamed of their bodies because of Adam and Eve’s sin.

Sasha, a confident 11-year-old girl, was very open about her experience growing up in a nudist church-going household. “I love my family and I love the comfort of my house, but when it comes to church, I can’t share this part of myself. I know some of the people think we’re going straight to hell because I see my brother’s wienie all the time, but it’s funny because being naked is not in the 10 commandments. I mean, come on, these people break the commandments all of the time without blinking an eye, yet I’m a bad person because people have seen me naked? I love being naked and I’m not apologizing.”

We spoke with nudist youth of all ages, and a pattern emerged: the real trauma doesn’t come from growing up without clothes. It comes from being shamed, isolated, misunderstood, or treated like something dangerous just because their families live differently.

For teens, their nudism provided a different level of anxiety because the pressure to fit in is so great. For some, they simply never mention it and hope no one asks, and if they did, would keep answers brief, vague, or simply lie. Others were confident in handling the conversation. 16-year-old, Ashley, had this to say, “It’s not a topic that comes up a lot, but when it does, most people don’t care; some giggle because it’s strange to them, others are indifferent, and some actually find it cool. Of course, there is the occasional jerk who tries to make it into something dirty, but you can’t rid the world of ignorance, so you have to learn to deal with it.”

14-year-old Andrew spoke of the isolation that can sometimes come from being a nudist. “I love being a nudist, but people make it into something so much more than it actually is, so I just keep this part of my life a secret. I would love it if everyone knew I was a nudist and didn’t care. I think the hardest part is never having a safe place outside of home to be open about all of my life. Like, I can’t talk to teachers, or youth group leaders, or even most friends.”

Nudist parents too must constantly struggle against a tide of misinformation, judgement, and accusations. There is an unfounded belief that being able to see your child’s genitals or for them to see yours is a form of abuse. Things get especially sensative if someone hears about a naked child cuddling up against their naked parent watching a moving and eating popcorn.

To be clear, nudists do not minimize the dangers and effects of real child sex abuse; they simply believe sexual abuse involves sexual acts and not merely seeing another human body. In fact, most nudist parents feel their child has a better understanding of their body autonomy because they can discuss their own body without feeling awkward or ashamed.

In the end, it’s the subtle ways we respond to children who share with us their true self that sends so many messages. From outright shaming them to our awkward responses, kids are hearing what we are and are not saying out loud. The message kids hear is: you’re not normal and this is not ok despite there being zero emperical evidence to support their negative assumptions.

If society wants to protect children, we should start by protecting their right to be themselves—without fear, without shame, and without needing to hide their families just to fit in.

Because it’s not the nudity that’s hurting these kids. It’s our reaction to it.