To agree with this headteacher regarding wearing pyjamas as outdoor wear?

[MaisyMooMoo]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-35413153

Eh? Since when was it appropriate to ask anyone if they were wearing underwear??!

Iliveinalighthouse Quite right, too. I think more people, including this HT, should give less than a shiny shit about what people wear.

Molly that's an exception though. Leaving the house at all is a mean feat. I hope you are on the up now

dressed as the easter bunny there should be more of that!

You're just being deliberately difficult now Eggnog

On MN it is acceptable to ask what people wear under their pyjamas. There was a whole thread on it last week, not one poster on that thread thought it was an unacceptable question to post.

Molly I believe everyone would feel empathy towards you in such difficult circumstances. I hope you are feeling well now

People are not emphatic towards others being lazy or wanting to follow the trend of appearing to be lazy and not caring what others think. but they do as so many follow this trend

maisy

How was anybody at all meant to know what Molly was experancing? Should be disclose any health issues so we can decide if we should judge or not?

Sock I think the point is that in the circumstances with this school it isn't an issue of parent's with health difficulties. It is lazy parents.

How hard is it to pull on tracksuit buttons and jacket? Agree with principal. Also think kids would be mortified

What disturbs me most when reading this is how many people think it's spelt "pajamas".

Some of us live in North America.

Dressing appropriately is a social code that we all follow (well, most of us do!) partly out of respect for one another and partly out of common sense.

Most people wouldn't turn up for work wearing a bikini and sarong (respect) or wear gardening overalls to a wedding (respect again) or an evening dress and tiara to the beach (common sense!).

There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of those outfits per se, but they are appropriate in particular circumstances and inappropriate in others.

To me, pyjamas, slippers, dressing gowns and the like are primarily for sleeping in and not an appropriate thing to wear when out and about.

Speaking of North America, this story has made its way across the pond. Most of the comments I have seen support parents wearing whatever they want; however, I think they might be assuming that the school run is as it is in the States where the vast majority of Americans who bring their children to school do so in a car, drive up, drop off and leave, never getting out of the car, so no one can really see what they are wearing.

wear gardening overalls to a wedding You'd be surprised. Cargo shorts at a naice wedding I went to here.

I went to a wedding in New York where some people showed up in scrubs. Bride (doctor) and groom (allied medical profession) wanted them there if only for a few minutes during their break (venue was near the hospital).

Only read the first page, as it's gone 1am in the morning and I realllllly need to go to bed.
Going to school and assemblies in your pyjamas is absolutely fucking rank, and I never swear.
Exactly how hard is it to throw on a pair of tracky bottoms and a t-shirt as an absolute bare minimum?! At least you'd be getting dressed!
This coming from a complete slob who if my t-shirt is the right way round without the label sticking out I declare that a WIN.
You might not like to hear the truth, but people WILL base assumptions on you and your mental state of health.

I'm hardly going to buy clothes for the school run to keep the likes of you lot happy! YY to being comfy in life. Why does everyone always think it's okay to tell women what to wear?

where do you get women from?! Surely it's ALL parents whether male or female who can't be arsed to put clothes on in a morning?!
Nothing wrong with being comfy for the school run. I'm hardly a fashion icon and wear whatever I throw on that's clean in the morning.
It's seriously not a hardship to get out of your pyjamas though.

Those of you judging- why don't you offer to help these parents with the school run?

OK, completely lost with this gem. Help with what?!
Coming round at 8am every morning to make sure they cock one leg up at a time to stick it in a pair of jeans (same amount of effort as a pair of pyjamas, surely).
Or pulling a skirt up around their waist and fastening it for them?!
Jeezus.
What exactly do they need help with that they can't pull on a different pair of trousers to PJ's?!
Takes seconds!

Eggnoggsnog i certainly don't judge you or assume you had mental health problems
I've only occassionally gone over the rd to get a pint of milk in my pjs with my coat on as i suffer with disabilities.
I am not lazy, slovenly, chavvy or unclean.
I am however in severe pain and can struggle getting clothes on and off.
For 10 years i still went to work and looked presentable, and on my days off wore pjs.
When i was growing up on my dads day off he wore scruffy shorts around the houSe and too bed.
That never made me think that i couldn't look presentable for school or for when i would go to work, or that it was acceptable to be late

Kryptonite well i struggle even getting clothes on some days.
It's not easy for some of us when you can't lift your leg up or put your arm up or behind your back....

Yes it is hard to put leggings, boots, and a jumper on in the morning if you suffer from chronic pain, disability, and arthritis. This idea that all mums can jump out of bed and throw clothes in two mins is sadly untrue.

Even when I had three children young children and worked nightshifts, I still managed to pull on a pair of jeans and a t shirt to pick them up.

The teacher is right - wearing pyjamas outdoors is sloppy and lazy.

Wearing pyjamas to school gives the message that school doesn't matter. It is not a situation worthy of putting any effort to. If those pyjama-wearing parents would happily wear pyjamas on an evening out then fair enough but I bet they bloody don't. It's disrespectful to both the teacher and their child's learning environment and if a parent turned up to a parents evening appointment with me wearing pyjamas whether they were a junior doctor or a lawyer or a barista or a gardener it would spell out to me very clearly how highly they value education and the people working in it.

stop dropping their children off in their pyjamas.

My kids never wear the pjs to school...

As a fashion I think it's ridiculous, disrespectful and encourages apathy and a low mood.

As a result of mental health problems, physical illness/disability or occasional circumstance I think it's totally understandable and up to the individual.

But the second reason will affect individuals, and not many of them. The scale of the problem in this HT's school is so large that she's had to issue public guidelines. That's a trend not a mental health problem. And the HT has the right not to want that as part of the atmosphere and philosophy the children in her school are surrounded by.

I'm in my early 30s and have never seen an adult out in public in their pyjamas. Where do some of you guys live?!

"Wearing pyjamas to school gives the message that school doesn't matter."
But the parents aren't going to school. The children are going to school, and their parents have probably made sure that they're "appropriately" dressed.
(If wearing pajamas is socially acceptable in their community, then the parents are appropriately dressed to their own standards anyway.)

On the subject of depression and pajamas; when I was really struggling I would never have gone out without being dressed partially because I sleep naked because I was using a significant portion of my available energy to hide how bad off I really was. I might be wearing the same clothes I'd worn for the past 3 days, and I might have a hat on to hide the fact that I hadn't washed my hair in a week, but if I couldn't get dressed I didn't go out.
I stayed in a lot.

But Ninja, their children HAVE to be in uniform (thank goodness) - I'm not saying you need to be suited and booted but what message do you think it sends to a child about school if their parent can't be bothered to dress to go there.
So in the eyes of a child:
Mum and Dad get dressed up and look good to go to the pub.
Mum and Dad go to speak to my teacher at school in their pyjamas.

Which is a more important place school or the pub?

As teachers we need the support of the parents to get children to value education. It's an uphill struggle when that support is not offered and actually countered at home by parents. Showing up to parents evening/school events in your pyjamas is giving a very clear message.