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Often when caregivers take
children to the local pool, the hardest part is getting them out of the water
and dressed. When they are younger, it's often
easiest to dry them and dress them by the side of the pool. But some pools think toddler
nudity is a problem, and for their own protection parents are being warned
not to expose their youngsters in public. Amanda Crozier has been told the
community pool where she takes her family for fun and entertainment is also a
place where perverts may be lurking. Crozier was changing her 16 month
old daughter at the Kaiapoi Aquatic Centre when a lifeguard approached and
said she could not change her daughter by the side of the pool. "She just issued me with this
notice saying it is now our policy that everybody must be changed in the
changing rooms." Crozier's other children were also
swimming at the time and she was keeping an eye on them at the same time. The aquatic centre is a
council-owned facility and says there is no ban on child nudity. But is says
the message to Crozier was meant as a warning about the risks. "One is to protect the
poolside from a hygiene point of view and the other is personal safety for
the parents and children so they're not being filmed by anyone around the
poolside," says Craig Sarginson from the Waimakariri District Council. The council wants parents to be
aware of the fact that someone could be filming their children with modern
technology - such as people using cellphones as cameras. Amanda and Ophelia, togs or no
togs, were welcomed to Christchurch's centennial pool on Tuesday where the "undress"
code is not as strict. Spokeswoman Michaela Ross says
while they don't encourage it, it's the parent's choice as to how they get
their children changed. At Auckland's Olympic Pool in
Newmarket caregivers are welcome to change their preschoolers poolside. Manager John Nixon says there's
never been a problem and staff.. swimming instructors are always on the
lookout for anyone out of place. Nixon says the pool is constantly
under supervision and the likelihood of anything happening is very slight |
