AIBU to keep my child off school sports day in 32C heat?

I do wonder what people do when they go on holiday and its hot? Do they worry about the heat and stay inside, or do they put suncream and a hat on and get on with life?

I think it’s ridiculous for them not to cancel, but tbh it’s so hot in the classrooms that as long as it’s not continuous exercise then it probably won’t be that different. Scrub that, in full sun, of course it’s got to be worse. As I said, ridiculous. The kids were wilting today in class where we are.

What’s fun or safe about it?

What an absurd post about “mummy’s wings”
nothing remotely to do with being weak. I am by no means a pearl clutching hyper vigilant parent, but my youngest child ended up being rushed to hospital with heatstroke in the early hours after a school sports playtime. Water, sun cream and hats didn’t mitigate effectively enough.
He had indeed had a brilliant time with his friends but that meant fuck all in paediatric a & e

You know that you're right,dont be put off by those who disagree.
Exercising at 30degrees and over is potentially dangerous and frankly not worth it.

I would just ask my kid and if they didn’t want to go I wouldn’t send them. My kid was moaning about the heat earlier and it’s 28 degrees here and he’s not used to it . It’s one thing if they are in water and keeping cool. It’s another thing altogether running around in heat they are not used to . Local football practice was cancelled here last night for the kids cos it’s too hot . So clearly it’s just not me. You can sympathise all you want but I’m just looking after my kids wellbeing and comfort here.

That may be but they're going to be fine

Oh well, if you say so then we can all stop worrying.

Just to say that better for rehydration than water would be weak squash/juice and a salty snack. The body needs both sugar and salt to be able to absorb the water. I live in a hot climate and this is why we give the kids an ice lolly if they are starting to get dehydrated, not just plain water (though of course they drink plenty of that). Same reason for eating watermelon together with feta-type cheese.

If your son loves Sports Day YABU to prevent him from going.

I was really good at sports at school, it was my time to shine rather than struggling to grasp Maths in the classroom. I'd have been raging if my mother had decided it was 'too hot' for me to go and kept me at home.

I don't think I'd have forgiven her. I'd certainly never have forgotten it.

It doesn’t reach full heat until 4-5 pm in the uk so at 10am should be fine, by 1pm it will be getting a bit warm

This … another poster mentioned unauthorised abscences…. What a ridiculous priority…. My child’s health comes first every time.

Not being unreasonable at all! My partner is a secondary school teacher and they had multiple kids fainting and others dropping out during the day due to feeling overheated, sicky etc. In the end they had to end the events a few hours anyway because they were dropping like flies.

That may be but they're going to be fine.

95% will attend and have a brilliant time with their friends. I feel sorry for the 5% tucked under mummy's wing and told they are too weak to participate.

You are the parent so just don’t send him. I don’t think it’s sensible for a child to spend 4 hours in that heat with no shade, so my child wouldn’t be going. Would you take your child to the park for 4 hours to play in this weather? I wouldn’t.

It's a dream summer for the kids! It saddens me that some parents are so keen to convince their children that they can't cope with stuff. Poor kids

Kids bodies heat up 5 times faster than adults', and they don't sweat as efficiently effectively making them more likely to suffer heatstroke. Adults who feel they themselves are coping ok cannot make that judgement for children.

This ^

When i was fourteen i was being badly bullied at school to the point that i got whisky and pills out and was seriously contemplating taking my own life Like you DM had a job to occupy her and was angry when she had to leave it

Unless he has a specific health issue that makes him different from the other kids, let him go. It’ll be fine.

I would OP. Hell I told a parent today that I’d recommend keeping both her nieces off school on sports day (okay that’s due to their seizures which are increasing due to this weather) but the point stands

We’ve had sports day and a cricket tournament this week, which were apparently fine to go ahead even though it’s been just as hot as when they were telling us we could collect at lunch due to the heat. I think I should have kept DD home as she got an awful heat rash from sweating in 30+ degree heat whilst wearing a horrible synthetic sports kit… Hard though as she really want to go and it was the last week of term so she really didn’t want to miss out.

Also meant to add , when are schools going to catch up with climate change and have sports day in autumn instead ?

It's a dream summer for the kids! It saddens me that some parents are so keen to convince their children that they can't cope with stuff. Poor kids.

10 - 2 is an absurd time of day to have kids outside in 32 degrees. It's peak UV and heat.

I understand that it's been planned in advance and it must be so frustrating for the school but it's really not reasonable to have it go ahead at all.

Personally I'd keep the kids at home but it's just habit from growing up in Australia.

YANBU this is miserable for the kids