Can nude statues corrupt kids?

A Utah community wants the town to get rid of a bare-breasted statue in a neighbor's yard so impressionable kids won't see it

A bare-breasted statue (not pictured) is being called "lewd" by Utah parents who want their neighbor to remove the sculpture from his yard.
(Image credit: CC BY: Gideon)

A feud is brewing in a Utah neighborhood, where angry parents are trying to get the city to force a neighbor to remove a statue of a bare-breasted woman from his yard. "It's lewd and there's so many little children under 8," one woman told a local newspaper. (See a photo of the statue here.) North Ogden City Manager Ed Dickie says that the local government's hands are tied, and that the statue's owner has the right to keep his art where it is. Is a little artistic nudity harmless, even in a neighborhood packed with kids?

The human body is nothing to fear: Honestly! Children aren't going to "immediately start having sex" just because they've seen a half-naked statue, says Monica Bielanko at Babble. Instead shielding their children's eyes, these "puritanical" parents should use this as an opportunity to teach their children about art. The human body is "beautiful," not a source of shame.

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