This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any existing people or events is coincidental. If a story involving sexual contact with minors bothers you or is illegal where you live, stop reading now.

How to get a boy to take off his pants

This is a topic that's interested me since I was a boy myself. Namely, how do you convince a boy to take off his clothes? More specifically, how do you get him to take off his pants? Shirts are easy. Shoes are pretty easy too. Pants are more difficult, and underpants are the most difficult of all. I'm most interested in having the underpants off too, of course, but that requires getting the pants off first. Convincing a boy to pull his pants down without taking them off is a nice intermediate goal and often is a stepping stone to other things.

Some boys seem to naturally lack modesty. Age matters a lot in this regard. Most six year-olds seem oblivious to nudity, but somewhere in the next few years shyness tends to set in. For boys that have brothers, or are involved in sports involving locker rooms and showers, the natural tendency to shyness is often suppressed or overcome. It's much easier to get these boys naked. Somehow though, it's also less satisfying. Getting a boy to drop his trousers when he really doesn't want to feels like much more of an accomplishment.

If you're male, you have a decided advantage. Casual nudity among men and boys is viewed as normal in many situations. This has been true historically more than it is today. In decades past, swimming naked was actually required at the YMCA. But even with changing mores and paranoia, most locker rooms are still open areas and gym showers usually lack curtains. The key phrase here is, "It's just us guys." Since we all have the same parts, there's no shame in exposing them to each other. This plays a role in all of the scenarios described here. The boy you're getting naked should be made to understand that it's natural, even expected, and not a big deal. Certainly not something that they need to tell anybody else about. Once a boy accepts this, it's generally easy to move him to the next step, where he views nakedness as not just normal, but fun. At that point, you'll hardly be able to keep clothes on him.

For this exploration, we're focused on ways to get a boy to take off his own pants. We might also consider situations where it would be reasonable for an adult to remove a boy's pants, or to directly help with the disrobing. Again, this seems less compelling. These approaches are intended to put the boy into a situation where they feel they should, or must, strip themselves. This gives us the opportunity to watch, reassure, encourage and normalize, and reduces the likelihood that the boy will see a reason to discuss the event with others.

These examples generally require some prior relationship of trust with the boy. Ideally, this involves being a caregiver with individual access to the child. However, many of these approaches are viable with more casual relationships as well.

I'd be very happy to hear from others about their experiences in this regard, and perhaps together we can build a more comprehensive set of examples. I offer my thanks to the readers who have already contributed ideas and refinements.

1. Get him wet and/or dirty
Perhaps the most obvious, this technique is a bit hackneyed, often appearing as a theme in man-boy smut stories. But the reason it's so prominent in the literature is that it's easy to set up, and it works. Boys love dirt and water. Sprinklers, the garden hose, mud puddles, sand piles... you get the idea. Let them run crazy and get fully soaked or caked with grime, or both. Then it's an easy thing to say, "We can't have you dripping all over the house." Or, "You can't be on the furniture in those grimy clothes." Get them into the laundry room and make it clear what they need to do. Water and mud are better for the obvious reason that they penetrate the outer layers and will compromise the underpants also. The beauty of this approach is that you're now in control of the boy's clothing for a time as it's cleaned and dried. You could I suppose offer him some alternative cover-up, but where's the fun in that? Best to just smile and normalize his nudity with a comment such as "I guess you get to run naked for a bit," as though it's a cool side-effect of the situation.

Personally I enjoy being fully dressed when a boy is fully nude. I find that they tend to listen better and are more compliant when this asymmetry exists. But if you've also gotten wet and dirty with them, then it's a good time to lead by example. Strip off your own clothes and make small talk. If he doesn't follow suit, a gentle prompt is usually all that's required. "You too, sport. We need to wash these. Yes, underpants too. It's just us guys."

2. Pee together
A time-honored male-bonding event. Opportunities for this present themselves most often in outdoor settings such as camping, but can also be encountered in any bathroom. At a minimum, the boy's penis needs to be exposed through his fly, but with some encouragement it's often possible to take them further. Boys want to appear grown up to adults that they respect. So, if you're out in the woods with a boy, you can simply say "I've got to pee." Don't just unzip, but take down your pants and underpants, fully exposing yourself. Make no move to turn away or hide behind a tree. Act like this total lack of modesty is expected and the way an adult is supposed to behave. You can ask, "Don't you have to go too?" In many cases the boy will emulate you, even if they're embarrassed. This approach has the added benefit of forcing the boy to look at your parts. You can decide what level of fondling and tugging you let him observe under the innocent guise of urination. The good news here is that once you convince the child that this is the way to pee, you'll be able to repeat the performance any time a suitable situation arises.

3. Take him to a locker room
An obvious way to help a boy learn that nakedness among males of all ages is a fully normal and expected thing. Unfortunately there's now a trend to separate ages in locker rooms in public facilities, even among the same gender. Still, there are lots of open lockers and showers remaining. This is another situation where leading by example is the best approach. By matter-of-factly stripping off your own clothes, the boy will get the idea that he has to do the same. Ideally there are other men and boys already in various states of undress, further normalizing things.

There's a nuance here that applies to any scenario that involves you as the adult undressing in front of the boy. It's common to undress from the top down, removing the shirt first, as though wishing to delay or minimize the exposition of the male parts. I prefer to maximize the time my penis is in view to the child. So, I would remove my shoes first, then take off pants and underpants at the same time. You can then chat with the lad while removing your shirt, giving him time to satisfy his natural curiosity about your more mature body. Hopefully he'll also learn to emulate this pattern. Talking about unrelated things while naked is another important way to normalize. "Do you think the Giants will make the playoffs this year?" will help him relax and take his mind off the fact that he's stripping naked in front of a room full of men.

4. Make sure that he's ok
Also a common ploy in stories of this genre. Any issue that the boy might have "down there" is an excellent reason to inspect the area to be sure that there's no problem. One obvious example is an injury or blow to the genital area. Slipping off the bicycle seat, getting hit by a ball, accidentally kicked, and so on. And because a thorough examination is called for, you'll need the pants and underpants to come all the way off. Just pulling them down won't give the required visibility. To be clear, I would never suggest that anyone stage or intentionally inflict such a thing on a boy just to have an excuse for getting his pants off.

Less traumatic and more common is itching. Boys are often itchy in their nethers and often unabashed about scratching them in full view. If you observe this, it's perfectly reasonable to suggest that there must be a source of the itch that demands investigation. This is especially true if a boy digs his hand inside his pants to scratch. A shy boy may well say, "No, really, it's ok, just an itch." The proper response is, "I'll be the judge of that, young man."

These situations present a good opportunity to help a shy boy overcome his modesty. Use empathetic words such as "I know it's embarrassing, but it's important to be sure that's everything is ok. Besides, it's just us guys."

5. Watch him change clothes
The locker room is a special case of the general issue of changing clothes. Given how common it is, there are many variations of this scenario. The key common idea is to remove the expectation of privacy for the boy when he changes. This can be as simple as standing in his doorway and waiting while he puts on his pajamas or dresses for school. Again, small talk helps. He may look at you, wondering if you're going to close the door and let him change in private. Make it clear from your body language that you're not going anywhere. The simpler and more casual, the better. If the boy actively protests your presence you need only say, "Don't be silly. It's just us guys."

Changing for bedtime also presents the chance to change the boy's dressing habits more permanently. "My goodness, you still wear pajamas at your age?" Appeal to his desire to seem grownup. "By the time I was your age, I was sleeping in my undies." Even if the lad doesn't respond immediately, the idea will be planted in his mind. Encouraging a boy to sleep fully naked is more risky for the obvious reasons, but you can suggest the notion by saying, "I like to sleep with as little on as possible. It's just more comfortable."

6. Watch him undress for a bath or shower
Again, obvious. The boy is going to be naked anyway, so why miss the opportunity? Our goal is to see him undress, so simply barging into the bathroom while they're bathing isn't the point (though this also has it's charms, to be sure). The key is to get the boy to take his clothes off outside of the bathroom. Laundry is the most obvious reason. "I want to put those in the wash, so give them to me please." Lead by example here as well. Undress in your bedroom and walk naked to the bathroom. Leave the bathroom door open. Many boys will want to copy your actions.

7. Go skinny dipping
Camping in general provides an excellent way to compromise a boy's privacy. Primitive quarters such as tents and one-room cabins mean changing clothes together. Being in the great outdoors fosters closeness in other ways too (see point #1, above). But swimming in the nude is an iconic male bonding ritual that any boy should truly be encouraged to experience.

If you have the opportunity to help the boy pack for the camping trip, it would seem entirely appropriate to leave behind the lad's swimming trunks. When the time comes for swimming and he discovers that he's without them, the natural choice is to just go without, "as nature intended." Perhaps the boy will insist on swimming in his underpants, but we know that once they're wet they're just as transparent as wearing nothing at all.

If your swimming spot is entirely private, of course you can join the boy in going bare. If there are others about, you might choose to wear your own suit. A naked child will be less controversial than an exposed adult, and the boy's experience of being fully nude around others who are dressed could be quite formative.

8. Play strip poker
This entry represents a departure from the other scenarios. By inviting a boy to engage in a game of strip poker (or strip checkers, or strip Monopoly...), you're making your agenda quite explicit. In every other case, the pants are coming off for a reason that's easily explained in banal terms. In a stripping game, the removal of the pants becomes the direct objective.

The best mitigation for this concern is to get the boy to suggest the stripping aspect on his own. He may have heard of such a thing in playground rumors, or even participated at a friend's house. You might be able to trigger his curiosity and impetuous spirit with a simple question. "I wonder how we might make this more interesting?" Or, with poker, "Pity that we don't have anything to bet with." If the boy blushes, you're one step closer. Ask him what he's thinking. If he gets to the idea on his own, you're quite within your rights to agree -- with appropriate cautions to the boy regarding the private nature of the game he's proposed.

9. Spank him
If a boy deserves discipline, a spanking is sometimes the most direct and effective approach. This is controversial of course. Believers in spanking understand that the embarrassment of the event is the more impactful part of the correction impetus, more so than the actual pain of the blows. To maximize this, it's important to have the pants and underpants not just down, but entirely off. The conversation about what the boy did wrong and why a spanking is needed should occur after he's stripped. Additional time in the corner, still undressed, helps to reinforce the lesson. Of course, I would never encourage one to artificially force a spanking that's not warranted by misbehavior.

10. Play superheroes
How would you describe the costume worn by Superman? Or Batman? It's easy to equate their garb with a boy's briefs. What an interesting notion, that undressing could actually be a way to play dress-up. Add a towel tied around the lad's neck as a cape and presto! You have a miniature superhero who will happily scamper about for hours in a state of relative undress.

Professional wrestlers provide a similar role model. These men are on television in their undies, so what's the harm in emulating them? And playing Hulk Hogan has the added fun of trying out one's wrestling moves.

Note that typical boy's briefs have significant differences from the bottoms worn by their cartoon (or cartoonish) idols. To enhance the realism of the boy's make-believe, you could offer him different underpants that sport a seamless front panel and a more snug, form-fitting profile.

11. Take him to the doctor
An important variation on 'make sure that he's ok,' especially for boys who are intensely shy. The authority of a physician isn't open to question, regardless of any pleading.  You and the doctor reinforce each other.  The doctor tells the boy to undress; the boy looks to you for salvation; you simple say, "Do as the doctor says, sport." You can empathize with his embarrassment, but never equivocate. The rules these days are pretty clear that an adult guardian should be in the room when a child is examined, so you get to stay and observe as the clothes come off.

Many doctors these days have become quite conservative in the thoroughness of the exams they conduct, especially on young ones.  So much paranoia.  They may only expose the parts of the boy that they feel essential to the exam. This can be addressed by dropping a few direct hints.  "He's been scratching a lot... you know, down there." Or, "He seems to get... you know, blocked up... quite often." Physicians fear malpractice suits more than anything else, so with even a small indication they're quite motivated to make in-depth explorations of any area that may be exhibiting symptoms. Your seeming reticence to explicitly name the body parts or functions in question will assure the doctor that you have only the purest of intentions in providing this guidance.

12. Just tell him
A favorite for its simplicity and directness. When a boy is ready, perhaps through having been in some of the situations previously described, it may be possible to just tell him to strip. We still want this to be his choice, of course. "It's so hot. Why don't you take your clothes off? You'll be more comfortable." A reasonable question or suggestion, not an order. "We can cuddle under the blanket to watch the movie. Why don't you slip off your pants?" If he does, always encourage. "Doesn't that feel so much better?" This will often get him down to his underpants. Another gentle prod might do the trick. "You can lose the rest too, if you like. After all, it's just us guys."

Some boys like being naked and really only need permission and reassurance. "It's ok, you won't get in trouble. Nobody else here to see. I won't tell if you won't." A shared secret and a soft smile. Tell him he's not a baby for wanting to run bare or cuddle. These things are safe with you. He's free to be the boy that he is.