Gransnet forums

Chat

Coatless kids

(88 Posts)
watermeadow Tue 09-Jan-24 08:48:23

Do secondary school kids everywhere walk around in mid-winter in the same clothes as in June, with just a polyester shirt between them and the freezing cold?
Met my grandson this morning in a bitter east wind and snow forecast and threatened to knit him a red jumper!
Their school has no lockers or cloakrooms and they would have to carry around their wet coats all day. Detention if coats are worn inside. They also carry backpack, laptop, PE kit, lunch and water bottle.
There’s no common sense about schools nowadays. We wore warm, waterproof raincoats with hoods.

RosesAreRed21 Fri 12-Jan-24 15:49:31

My 2 grandsons she’s 8 and 5 well around like it’s summer and their mum has to carry their school costs home as they say “they are hot” my daughter finds it embarrassing as she is all wrapped up and it looks like she doesn’t care. But they just don’t feel the cold

Lostmyglassesxx Fri 12-Jan-24 15:08:44

It’s a teenage thing .. maybe one of the few things they feel they can control
They all do it ..they don’t get cold .. nuts but then I seem to remember I may have done the same back in the day .

Romola Fri 12-Jan-24 14:57:53

One skinny GS needs several layers to keep warm, his chunkier brother refuses to wear long trousers or a coat.
It all depends on the constitution.

Bella23 Fri 12-Jan-24 14:46:17

Glorianny

Here in the NE it's practice for when they grow up. They shed clothes year after year until they are old enough to go clubbing, girls in skimpiest dress possible, boys in short sleeved t-shirts.
I on the other hand have reached the stage of adding a layer every decade.

I can remember that Glorianny. The Big market and town was a sight to behold on a weekend . People dressed as if they were in Spain.
My two were the same at school and said it was because people stole out of their lockers and they were not allocated desks like we were in their form rooms. We changed rooms for certain lessons but would never have dreamt of taking someone's books out.
I got so fed up with buying P.E.Kit that I printed their names in huge block letters in a Clothes marker pen on a visible spot like a collar. At first, they objected but soon found other mums were doing the same.

4allweknow Fri 12-Jan-24 14:07:26

School in my days meant you hung your coat on a peg in the classroom or put it in your bag. Never had lockers yet sports clothing/footwear had to be lugged about. No laptops though!

SueEH Fri 12-Jan-24 14:03:58

My 3 DC’s secondary was huge and they did not physically have time to get to their locker, put in their coat and get to lesson on time. (That’s another issue … had to pay to “rent “ their lockers and eventually they told me not to bother). I have seen them standing waiting for the school bus in the snow without a coat.

Daffydilly Fri 12-Jan-24 13:41:55

My son used to say that they all have pockets and having a coat meant trying to cram it in song with everything else, often having to walk from one end of school to the other just to get your coat. He decided it wasn't worth it.

fluttERBY123 Fri 12-Jan-24 13:40:49

I think young people naturally regulate their body temperatures. They don't need the coats, don't feel cold. Tiny babies and very old people I believe are not able to regulate so need to be wrapped up. This is all complicated by our use of centrally heated homes and cars. We really don't need to be hot all the time.

Mojack26 Fri 12-Jan-24 13:20:41

Yes! I say this as a retired secondary school teacher,in Scotland! You have to be seen to be 'cool' !!!

jocork Fri 12-Jan-24 13:13:19

Sadly many schools don't have lockers any more or not enough for every student, so I can understand them not wanting to carry coats around everywhere, though many do wear coats and then get in trouble for wearing them inside!
When I was at school we had assigned coat pegs for our coats and PE bags. We also had the storage desks with lift up lids so we didn't have to carry all our books around all day. Teachers came to our classrooms to teach us except those with specialist rooms such as science or art etc. Nowadays teachers all have their own rooms and students go to them, so have to carry everything around all day.

V3ra Fri 12-Jan-24 13:07:47

If parents would label clothes, they may stand a chance of being returned.

One September when my minded children went back to school I realised I had four of the same Morrison's Nutmeg coat, different sizes, hanging in my hall. Not one of them was named!
As it's our local supermarket I imagine half the school had the same coat 🤦
I always check now and write their names on the label myself.

Calendargirl Fri 12-Jan-24 12:58:21

We wore coats, and also carried satchels, PE cases and domestic science baskets.

Hard work managing them on the school bus.

FranP Fri 12-Jan-24 12:40:10

If parents would label clothes, they may stand a chance of being returned. I volunteer in primary school, and yes children do not seem to feel the cold in the same way, but at the end of every term there is a couple of bin bags full of uniform left. I do go through and look for names and the staff will give them back if I find one, but they do not have time to keep doing this.
In the secondary school they provide lockers on a 1st come basis so not all can get one BUT they are right at the back of the school, and my grandson would get in to trouble for being late for registration because it took too long between being let in to get there and back to class .

nanna8 Fri 12-Jan-24 12:01:07

The kids here would get detentions if they didn’t wear the correct uniform in the correct way. They are amazingly strict on uniforms , state and private. Hope it doesn’t change. I think the peer group pressure is to all look the same.

grannybuy Fri 12-Jan-24 11:53:20

Just last week, I was surprised to see my 19yr old DGD wearing a full length padded coat. My DD told me that this is fashionable at the moment. Showing more maturity?
Her 16yr old sister was still in the ‘ as little as possible ‘ mode!

Mollygo Fri 12-Jan-24 11:43:49

We did have lockers when I was at school. We lugged our coats and bags round anyway because the lockers were all on the ground floor, but lessons, especially end of day lessons might be on floor 6 or out in the annexe.
I insist my classes put coats on before going out if it’s cold or wet, but they’re often picked up by parents without coats, so I can see why children think coats are unnecessary.
Crazily, at high school DGC not only have no lockers except in PE changing rooms, but also now have to lug a bag with a laptop in everywhere as well.
Re open coats-just look at people in town. Few coats fastened, except amongst older people.

Buttonjugs Fri 12-Jan-24 11:24:07

My granddaughters stay at mine some weekends and even though I live in a very warm house they wear pyjamas and Oodies and I wonder why they’re not sweating! But when they go out they often don’t wear coats and the eldest doesn’t wear one to secondary school. It’s mystifying.

Babamaman Fri 12-Jan-24 11:14:06

We didn’t have lockers - we had coat hooks and there were never any coat thefts! What is wrong with schools these days? No space, no common sense!
Where do the teachers put their coats?
Something sensible must be done surely!

welbeck Tue 09-Jan-24 17:00:02

thanks for the information.
presumably a variant from the word, pantaloons.

Visgir1 Tue 09-Jan-24 16:06:42

It's not just school children.. I was in Edinburgh over a very cold weekend in December. I was amazed at the number of women (off all ages) bare arms and legs out on the town. I was frozen, for the first time for ages.

I must admit, I did similar years ago when leaving clubs but in my part of the world it tends not to get that cold.

NotSpaghetti Tue 09-Jan-24 15:49:49

Loons were full length trousers (some even on the floor) that fitted tightly around the waist or (more usually) hips and were very tight around the backside/groin/thigh and legs as far as the knee at which point they flared out.

Can't seem to find many images of the split-knees to be honest as most people wore less dramatic versions of glares I think - I should raid my early Polaroids!!

I knew a few young men that wore them. I just had "regular" albeit 30" flares.

Calendargirl Tue 09-Jan-24 15:29:50

Also think younger children nowadays are given much more choice about what they want to wear, hence ankle socks in the depths of winter, and thick tights in mid summer.

We wore what our mothers put out for us, as did my own children.

dotpocka Tue 09-Jan-24 15:23:26

lived on an island not alot of snow but ontop of the snow there would have 4-5 inches of ice we would go out side with only sock to play kick the can tshirt and jeans was 15 years old
moved inland and more snow still barely clothed

NotSpaghetti Tue 09-Jan-24 15:18:04

Theexwife

Flared trousers from the 70s.

Not sure those ones are loons actually Theexwife - believe they had to have a split-knee - or they would just be "flares".

Many of them were 2-tone.
Will see if I can find a picture.

Casdon Tue 09-Jan-24 15:12:41

I don’t think young people generally think it’s cool to wear coats. If you go into town at the weekend they are all out in the shops, and later the bars and clubs without coats, just in shirt sleeves and short dresses. I think they have an epiphany at about 25 and realise that coats do serve a useful purpose after all.