Chapter 4: PTA meeting 1

It was two evenings after the morning Lisa had installed the wading pools. Lisa had asked to borrow some forty folding chairs from the school board and a van had dropped them off that afternoon. Although the meeting had been set for eight o'clock, the first parents started to trickle in by seven fifteen. In some cases, just one parent showed up but mostly, both parents came. Meredith, being a single parent and unable to find a baby-sitter, had chosen to bring Mark along with her.

By seven forty-five, all the parents were present so Lisa called the meeting to order. She started by explaining that she had called the air conditioning repairman that afternoon and she had learned that the part needed to fix the unit was on back-order and would not be available for at least two weeks, if not more. She then described how one of the children had taken off his clothes because he was too hot and how the other children had started copying him. The other children had not seemed to be in any way bothered by the nakedness. She had explained how she had taken that child aside to talk to him but that she had not wanted to force the child to get dressed again as she did not want to undermine the parents' authority.

She further explained that, after discussing the matter with the child's parents, she had decided to let things be for the moment and had even purchased some wading pools to help the kids stay cool. As she was fully aware that she could not overstep the wishes of the parents, she wanted them all to know of the situation and to discuss possible solutions to the dilemma.

"What I suggest is that those parents who wish their child to stay dressed, to supply a bathing suit. Otherwise, I would continue to let them play naked at least until the current heat wave was over. What is definite, however, is that when the kids are outside, all the kids will be outside, be they naked or wearing swimsuits; there is no question of hiring other staff in order to segregate the naked kids from the kids wearing suits."

With that news, there was quite a hubbub as the parents discussed this latest development amongst themselves. Finally, a florid, heavy-set man stood up and sputtered angrily.

"The solution is simple; just make sure that all the kids wear suits ... That's it, that's all."

"Mr. Crenshaw, please ... As I explained, not everyone is of the same opinion as you. Some of the parents may not care either way and at least one set of parents is totally in favor of their child playing in his skin."

"This is not acceptable. I insist that all the children wear swimsuits! This is atrocious ... Jessica will be scarred for life. I will not tolerate that my daughter be exposed to such a lewd, scandalous spectacle!"

"As I mentioned before, when it happened, I discussed it with the child's parents and they explained their reasoning. I must say, it, was quite a revelation. The following day, I consulted several studies by eminent child psychologists end sociologists about the effect of an exposure to nudity in a child's development and contrary to what you may believe, being in contact with nudity, both that of other children and that of adults, leads to a healthier awareness of self and a greater self-esteem, rather than the opposite. I have photocopied s few of those studies and I can leave them with those of you who may wish to consult them."