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Sophia Jones helps her twins
Oliver and Charles change for a swimming lesson. Amanda Crozier was dressing her
16-month-old daughter at the side of a public swimming pool when an attendant
approached and told her there was a ban on child nudity. "You're kidding me, aren't
you?" the mother of four replied. No, they were not. She was handed
a notice that explained the policy was designed to "minimise the
risks". So began a national debate
yesterday. Managers of the pool at the Kaiapoi Aquatic Centre near
Christchurch said some swimmers were offended by child nudity and they were
also worried about the risk of paedophiles photographing naked children. "It's not very often I get
cross, but I got terribly cross about that," Mrs Crozier said.
"It's a shame it has got to that degree really. They tell us they are
looking after us, but really they are not because they are making it more
difficult for us." She said the two family
changing-rooms at the centre were busy when she opted to change Ophelia at
the poolside, and it also allowed her to keep an eye on her other young
children who were swimming. The aquatic centre management is
standing by its policy, which is also in use at other facilities nationwide. Manager Ann Bergman said the
policy was introduced after complaints from pool users offended by child
nudity, but also in response to concerns about lurking paedophiles or people
photographing naked children. "That's today's changing
society. We can no longer do what we [did] in yesteryear. It's not just in
pools, it is life in general. We have to change with the times," Mrs
Bergman said. National Party family affairs
spokeswoman Judith Collins called the centre's stance "PC
nonsense". "These [centre management]
are saying to this poor young mother that she should feel she is doing
something dreadful in changing her daughter. They need to get a life. "How do they think babies are
born? Do they think they come all dressed? Maybe they think there are
paedophiles lurking around delivery rooms. People need to start thinking
about what exactly they are saying here. Do they allow people to see each
other undressed in the changing-rooms?" Former Children's Commissioner
Roger McClay said he found it hard to believe that anyone could be offended
by a 16-month-old child being dressed at a poolside. If there was a risk to
the child, then the pool staff would be better off keeping paedophiles out. "We can't go overboard with
being so politically correct that it negates normal parenting behaviour that
has been accepted through generations." Plunket clinical adviser Marg
Bigsby was reluctant to comment on the issue without seeing the full facts,
but said: "It seems unusual that attention would be drawn to a
16-month-old child being changed in public." Mrs Crozier said she had no desire
to return to the Kaiapoi centre with her children unless things changed.
"If they were to reconsider the whole policy that would please me a
great deal." Community Leisure Management,
which operates 12 swimming centres from Whangarei to Nelson - including Mt
Albert's Philips Aquatic Centre - has a policy of encouraging people to use
family changing rooms rather than undressing children in public. If a young child was changing in
public view, "common sense needs to prevail", said general manager
Craig Carter. "You don't want it to become commonplace with people
changing by the pool. You have to draw a line in the sand somewhere."
Pool rule silly, say mothers They were all giggles and smiles -
running around the pool, splashing in the water, and having a great time. And yes, some of these
preschoolers at Newmarket's Olympic Pool yesterday were getting changed by
the pool with their mother's help. But at what age does it become
inappropriate to let your children get changed in the open? Parnell mother Nicky Russell, who
was helping her 4-year-old son, Alex, to get changed by the pool, said it was
difficult to pick an exact age. "I suppose there is an age
when they should go to the changing room but it doesn't offend me. Maybe when
they get to about 8 or 10 they should go ... but it's hard to say." She said her 7-year-old son got
changed in the changing room, but that was his decision, not hers. Ms Russell said the incident in
Canterbury in which a mother changing her 16-month-old baby beside the pool
was asked to stop was "absolutely ridiculous". "Sometimes a mother doesn't
have any choice but to change the kids near the pool." Sophia Jones, who was at the pool
with her 4-year-old twin boys, also expressed shock at the incident. "I think it's ridiculous. I
can't understand that at all. "I could maybe understand it
if there was a hygiene issue ... like changing a nappy near the pool, but
it's just ridiculous." She said she would start to feel
differently about her boys changing in the open once they got to about 7 or
8. Manager John Nixon said the
Olympic Pool did not have a policy against parents changing their children
near the pool. "We are a family-friendly pool and it's up to the parents
to make the decision. "Unless there were other
circumstances surrounding what happened, I would say it's political
correctness gone mad. Maybe if it was a 16-year-old getting changed it would
be different, but not a 16-month-old. It's an overreaction." - Maggie McNaughton |
