Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

Barefoot Children

80 replies

holidaysarenice · 31/05/2012 06:17

This has been nagging all week - really want to know if im waaaaay off the mark or not! So bear with my first post please!

Was in our local park in Glasgow in the hot weather, gorgeous park by day but not got a fab reputation at night.

A local school had their kids all there, running about, playing olympic games, having fun. Fair enough, i could see two teachers and an athletics guy teaching, three teachers on the grass chatting. But that's not my point - just setting a scene.

All the kids were barefoot!! Socks and shoes in a pile by the teachers. Couple of the teachers barefoot too.
I was outraged, kids running on paths, to games set up in different bits of the park, and across fairly long grass. How dangerous is that?

AIBU to think that its not a good idea to let about 40 kids run about in a dodgy-ish park in their barefeet?
If you were the parent would you be mad that this had happened and think that health and safety would go nuts, re the risk of standing on glass/needles/dog poo?

OP posts:

BenjiAndTheTigers · 31/05/2012 06:21

Maybe give the Teachers enough credit to have checked for risky things before they allowed the children to take off their shoes and socks.

ben5 · 31/05/2012 06:22

If the teachers did a check of the area before they took the shoes off I really wouldn't have a problem.

LtEveDallas · 31/05/2012 06:23

Maybe they'd checked the grass earlier?

DD spends most of her time barefoot, as do I. It's more comfortable, less hot. Only in the parks / our garden / beach although some of the Fijians I know hardly ever wear shoes, kids and adults, even going to twin etc.

Original poster

holidaysarenice · 31/05/2012 06:23

Hmmm i did think about that, but i also thought about the big area they were in, it is a huge park and part path, part longish grass, part like the little embedded stones.

OP posts:

LtEveDallas · 31/05/2012 06:23

That's going to TOWN (DYAC)

BenjiAndTheTigers · 31/05/2012 06:27

Bet the children were having a brilliant time.

exoticfruits · 31/05/2012 06:39

I bet the teachers checked first and the DCs would love it. Much better than the ones I read about yesterday who were taken to the beach and couldn't paddle - because of health and safety.

alphabite · 31/05/2012 06:41

'outraged'

Goodness me!

mockingjay · 31/05/2012 06:45

Not the best idea, my main concern would be needles. The teachers can't have checked a huge park for needles can they? It's not as if wearing your pumps is really uncomfortable.

Boggler · 31/05/2012 06:48

I think I would have been horrified too holidaysarenice, I wouldn't let a child of mine run barefoot in a park. I'm not too worried about stones but parks often have broken glass - you only need to step on a small bit plus dog poop every park has dog poop. It's bad enough stepping in it with shoes but imagine that squelching in between little toes yuk! I think it was a pretty stupid idea and no risk assessment looking for danger hidden in long grass could possibly cover a whole park.

exoticfruits · 31/05/2012 07:30

I think that if you contact the school you would find they had a perfectly nice time with no accidents - hopefully not spoiled by a member of the public projecting their own fears!
It wasn't your DC and you were not asked to take your shoes off!

AKissIsNotAContract · 31/05/2012 07:36

'Much better than the ones I read about yesterday who were taken to the beach and couldn't paddle - because of health and safety.'

Was it west wittering beach? A man just died there saving a 5 year old girl.

Bumdrop · 31/05/2012 07:38

I'm with you OP,
I think its quite stoopid.
Too much dog shit around in most parks
Glass, etc.....
If that had been my kids school, I would be having a word !!

exoticfruits · 31/05/2012 07:39

No - it was somewhere perfectly safe - everyone else was paddling. The west withering ones were not paddling.

issyocean · 31/05/2012 07:41

I grew up in Australia.I hardly ever wore shoes,if fact we used to carry our shoes to school and put them on when we got there, even if it was pouring with rain.

I still have both my feet

exoticfruits · 31/05/2012 07:41

Probably the poor DCs on the beach had to keep their shoes on for the same reason. Dogs go on beaches and there is glass etc.
I went on a running course, we all took our shoes and socks off in the park each week - it was fine.

exoticfruits · 31/05/2012 07:43

I feel so sad for DCs these days. The teachers would have checked and yet parents, who have no understanding of the benefits would feel they ' had to have a word'- you would hope that it would be ignored!

vvviola · 31/05/2012 07:44

OP - you'd go nuts here in NZ! Going barefoot seems to be standard practice.

9 times out of 10, DD is barefoot when I collect her from pre-school. And it's quite normal for the kids to throw their shoes in their bag & walk to the car barefoot.

At the information evening for her school, the principal had to specifically tell parents that shoes should be worn to school

And it's not just kids - I quite often see adults (usually but not always men) wandering around the shopping centre with no shoes on.

It's taken me a while to get used to... but I'm still the only parent to be insisting their child put shoes on before we leave the pre-school grounds

exoticfruits · 31/05/2012 07:46

I think it is only the UK that a stranger could see a group of DC s having fun and want to stop it!

ScarletLadyOfTheNight01 · 31/05/2012 07:50

I'd live barefoot if I could, I love it. I blame my hippy upbringing. I'm sure they checked first.

FredFredGeorge · 31/05/2012 07:52

I feel very sorry for your children.

CCsgirl · 31/05/2012 07:59

Where I live in Australia it's commonplace for children to walk around barefoot. I saw the local boys AFL team out for a training run on pavements, running barefoot. Many adults wander around without shoes. That said I don't see why they had their shoes off in the park?? Pumps are pretty comfortable arent they?

startail · 31/05/2012 07:59

My DDs are perfectly at liberty to race about the garden, the beach and the tar aced bit of our local park without shoes.

But not the grass!

It's a small town park, not Glasgow, but I still wouldn't want to guarantee the grass is free from glass or needles.

startail · 31/05/2012 08:00

Tar mac

exoticfruits · 31/05/2012 08:04

It makes me nostalgic for my childhood when you were out and about and your mother had no idea if your shoes were on or off!

Flip

1 2 3 4