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 5 6 7 8

Original poster

To not want my DD doing PE in torrential rain!

185 replies

TheoriginalLEM · 19/09/2015 16:13

DD is in year 6 and yesterday they did PE in the rain. Now i have no problem with her doing PE in the rain but this was ridiculous. She had a waterproof coat on (not a pe coat, big heavy coat) which was soaked through and i could wring her PE kit out that she had to bring home to be washed because it was so wet!

Now she is on the sofa with a stinking cold - now i know she didn't get the cold because of the rain but she started sniffling last night so i am pretty sure it hasn't helped.

Her teacher (who thankfully she only has for PE) made a big thing of telling them they would do PE in all weathers but this was ridiculous.

I got caught out in it yesterday too, but i was able to come home and have a warm shower straight away and dry off, not sit in my fucking wet vest and pants.

No point in complaining teacher is an arrogant twat so ranting on here instead.

OP posts:

ProcrastinatorGeneral · 19/09/2015 21:52

Why are a bunch of grown women bitching about a child who has been made to sit, uncomfortably, in wet underwear for a portion of the day?

You might choose to go roll in puddles, this child didn't, she was made to. Some of you need to take a look at yourselves and grow up a little.

OP, I'm not surprised you're cross. You're not unreasonable in thinking this was handled badly by the PE teacher. Instead of talking to the teacher, who you've said isn't particularly approachable, can you talk to the head or one of the governors about it and maybe suggest that if they're implementing all weather PE they need to allow better kit?

Topseyt · 19/09/2015 21:59

I am with the OP. There has been some torrential rain around here in the last couple of days, and choosing to take children out in it would have been ridiculous. I wouldn't have chosen to go out in it myself.

This was one of the many things which really put me off school PE lessons. It wasn't the only thing, there were other issues, but it was one of them. I didn't find school PE lessons toughened me up at all. Nor were they character building. They could be torture.

Sitting in wringing wet clothes is horrible. Getting the children's coats wringing wet so that they were still wet to go home in later was complete stupidity.

Scremersford · 19/09/2015 22:10

IonaNE If cancelling things for rain affects most of your life, then I presume you eat, sleep, work, make love and relax outdoors. I just wanted to point out that most of us don't. I spend a reasonable amount of time outdoors. But not most of my life.

How strange. Do you know a lot of people like that then?

You sound very confused about what you want to do when it rains.

swimmerforlife · 19/09/2015 22:21

YANBU, there is nothing wrong with a bit of rain but there comes a point where it's ridiculous. OP's daughter should not have been forced out into torrential down pour. It's not fucking character building, it's simply being cruel.

When I went to primary school if it rained (more than drizzle) we simply stayed in doors as the field would become all muddy after being trodden in by 20 odd kids and I went to a mufti school so didn't have a PE kit.

BigChocFrenzy · 19/09/2015 22:50

The problem is that - insanely - some schools no longer have showers & changing rooms.
I am hardy and enjoy running in cold rain. I also drip sweat in the gym when I box, lift weights, spin.
However, I would NOT willingly exercise if I knew that afterwards I would remain in wet clothes for hours.

Wet clothes & hair conduct heat away from the body, reducing body temperature.
Many scientists, e.g. Rhinology J suggest that acute cooling of the body surface causes vasoconstriction in the nose & upper airways, reducing the respiratory defence system. So, an existing latent virus, such as cold or flu, could become active.

Pippioddstocking · 19/09/2015 22:54

Bigchoc - I agree with your post entirely .

FyreFly · 19/09/2015 23:03

Scremersford I have two dogs, and spend quite a bit of my time outdoors in all weathers. I enjoy it and that is my choice. I am able to dress properly and arrange my life accordingly. If I'm out of the home I can equip myself with flasks and changes of clothes.

It was not my choice when I was 12 and we were forced out into the rain in inadequate clothing, with inadequate changing times / facilities afterwards, (to play a sport I didn't even like and was shit at even in the best of weather), and to freeze my arse off in class for the next couple of hours whilst warming up, with sopping wet hair and clammy, cold feet.

I don't hate being outdoors, or being active - quite the contrary. I hated having no choice in the matter. There is a huge difference.

BertrandRussell · 19/09/2015 23:24

Right. Let's put Dr Eccles to bed. This is from memory- so forgive any minor errors. He took two groups of 90. One group had their feet in iced water for 20 minutes. The other didn't. 13 of the iced water group developed a cold some days later. 6 of the other group did. All of the people who got colds said they were succeptible to them. And the iced water group could hardly have failed to notice that their feet were chilled. So not really a double blind experiment. If you think of yourself a succeptible to colds and you're in the obviously non control group in a trial of course you're more likely to report a cold. It is a completely useless trial.

Lurkedforever1 · 19/09/2015 23:34

Funny thing is, all the active, outdoorsy kids I know tend to have pretty cracking immune systems, and despite being out all weathers, mostly without coats, very rarely have colds.

Distracted34 · 19/09/2015 23:56

Scremersford, I have horses too but when I get cold and wet looking after them, I come home and change into dry clothes. I don't sit in a cool room all day in them.

I don't think you're being unreasonable, OP. It's not fair to get the kids soaked if they can't get warm and dry afterwards. Sitting in clammy clothes for the rest of the day is horrible.

HamaTime · 19/09/2015 23:59

It is a completely useless trial

Except it's not, and it's also not a stand alone study. There have been loads of other studies, some in vitro and some using animal models, so unless you are suggesting that half the mice were paranoid hypochondriacs or the text tubes were dicks then you would struggle to say that all the studies are 'useless'.

sunseeker67 · 20/09/2015 00:05

My dd's coat was soaking through when she came home from school the other day, I suspect they were left outside in the monsoon at playtime. She now has a nasty rotten cold. I never used to believe my mother that cold and wet gave you a cold, but I do now.

HelenaDove · 20/09/2015 00:22

It cant have done much for their concentration in class either.

BertrandRussell · 20/09/2015 00:28

How on earth can you do an in vitro experiment on whether having wet feet can give you a cold?

Original poster

TheoriginalLEM · 20/09/2015 00:39

well my dd's feet were dry do we can discount that one.

she probably would have got the cold anyway but that really is secondary to her being wet and miserable but she actually didn't seem to mind so i guess its all a bit of a storm in a tea cup.

poor thing does have a stinking cold though.

OP posts:

BigChocFrenzy · 20/09/2015 01:00

Feet in very cold water for 20 mins is quite different, wrt affected surface area and duration, to cold wet clothes & hair for some hours.
The theories I posted refer to effects on the upper airways, which ntbo, are some distance from the feet.

BigChocFrenzy · 20/09/2015 01:05

The theories were published in the Rhinology Journal and other respectable scientific journals, so a long way from amateur science buffs.

Fratelli · 20/09/2015 07:00

Yanbu. I wouldn't want to be out in the rain and I don't think a lot of people would either. Ignore people saying you're precious. If you already have the cold virus being out in the rain can cause symptoms to develop further

ivykaty44 · 20/09/2015 07:07

And I bet there will be many dc put of doing sport for life by this type of attitude. We want dc to enjoy sport and that way continue - by making the dc continue in pouring rain that soaks them, will leave them with memories of

Sport = horrible wet soaked through feeling...

Better the idiotic teacher did something else with them inside, teaching the rules of a team game or if enough space a bit of team running.

ThatsNotMyHouseItIsTooClean · 20/09/2015 07:38

I'm with OP on this one. We had downpours on & off one day earlier in the week. As a family, we enjoy walks in the rain so I walked down to get DD as usual. She came home in her PE kit as it had been PE for the last session. We were both soaked by the time we got home, especially DD's feet which had just been in plimsolls & socks. As soon as we were home, I made hot drinks, we had a shower & then snuggled on the sofa. If she had been outside doing PE in similar weather, she would have had a miserable time afterwards at school even if she had loved the PE session itself.

mewkins · 20/09/2015 07:51

No it's miserable and yes dd would probably come out with a cold straight after and have an asthmatic cough as well.
Scientists may prove this cannot happen. But with dd it will happen.

A bit of drizzle is fine but what is the point in taking a bunch of primary kids out in tain so heavy you can barely see. And then sit for the rest of the day cold and a bit damp.
(I can still recall a school hockey lesson in a blizzard and my knees turning blue. It did not instil in me a love of sport!)

Bulbasaur · 20/09/2015 07:59

Making kids "toughen up" doesn't teach them to man up, it teaches them adults are assholes. They have their entire adult lives to deal with cruddy situations they'll have to soldier on through, I see no rush to start them early.

That said, if it were my DD, I wouldn't be happy about her coming home with a coat that was soaked either. If it was cold enough for a coat, it's too cold to be running out in the rain. I would be having a talk with the principal/headmaster/whatever you call the person in charge in the UK, to make sure it didn't happen again or that at the very least the PE teacher made sure all kids had dry clothes to change into before taking them out in the rain.

The teacher is in charge and responsible for the students, that includes making sure that they will all be able to dry off and they do exercises in appropriate weather. Does the school not have a gymnasium where the kids can run indoors or play indoor sports? We always did that at school, and we were all in pretty good shape.

Ignoring the fact that the rain won't kill you (neither will stubbing your toe, but it's not pleasant), I can't see how wet children are in the best shape to learn. Wet clothes are sticky and unpleasant feelings which for a lot of kids would be distracting. As the homeroom teacher, I wouldn't be happy about it either.

InimitableJeeves · 20/09/2015 08:06

Funny thing is, all the active, outdoorsy kids I know tend to have pretty cracking immune systems, and despite being out all weathers, mostly without coats, very rarely have colds.

And how many of them regularly spend time out in torrential rain soaked through to the skin followed by sitting around in wet clothes afterwards?

Lurkedforever1 · 20/09/2015 09:11

Well, again that goes back to my original point inimitable, they don't sit or stand around in wet clothes, they are moving constantly. Including in torrential rain. Again getting rained on, especially in September, it doesn't follow you must therefore get cold. And as I've already said, if they're getting changed straight after, and the only problem is staying in wet underwear for hours, the issue would be chapped skin, not cold.

balletgirlmum · 20/09/2015 09:20

Bulbasaur - no, most UK primary schools don't have gymnasiums. The lunch hall often doubles up as an area for gym/indoor PE but has to be booked in advance. Another class may have already been using it.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Swipe left for the next trending thread