Children wearing jogging bottoms to school ...

[LittleMissUnreasonable]

Aibu to find it irritating seeing more and more primary school ages children walking to school in branded jogging bottoms and trainers. I think it looks really scruffy and it's just a case of laziness.

A pair of school trousers costs about £3 from supermarkets. Shoes from primark about £8. It's not a case of not being able to afford a proper uniform as some of these branded joggers cost about £20+ quid!

The only possible issue with leggings is if they are the poor quality thin ones. Proper decent thickness ones are fine!

My kids live overseas where the primary schools have no uniform. I send them in what is comfortable and that include jogging bottoms and trainers. Fuck sometimes this place is so judgy. They are always clean and look fairly smart, and above all the kids are happy!

EvilDoctor Does that mean that ONLY Muslim girls are allowed to wear grey leggings under their skirt? A bit discriminatory to non-Muslim girls isn't it?

They are clothes. They are comfy and practical. I cannot see the problem at all.

My ds10 wears joggers and trainers on the days he has swimming and pe. He has asd and really struggles otherwise.

I'm secretly hoping they'll make school uniforms optional by the time my son goes to school. I'd love for kids to just wear whatever and not a suit.

Jogging bottoms? To a primary school? God, no wonder this country is going to the dogs. I bet their mothers turn up in what looks suspiciously like pyjamas as well, these things don’t come from nowhere. Bloody Jeremy Kyle generation!

I don’t understand the obsession with small children looking smart. What is the actual purpose of it? Do you put them in shirts and ties with blazers at the weekend? Do you wear a suit to do your Tesco shopping? Clothing for school should be comfortable, easy to wash and dry and cheap.

The excuse that you will have to wear uniform to work is a straw man argument. A) they are children, not employees and B) both my adult children wear “uniform” to work, but the one who is expected to wear a specific branded one gets it provided free of charge. The other one is told “black trousers, skirt or jeans and a black top”. The very large company she works for still seems to manage to turn multi-million pound profits every year, even with ( shock horror) giving their staff some autonomy in their clothing.

problem is that branded trainers are worth a lot of money and parents like me, who send kids to school in school shoes (which is listed on uniform list) get asked over and over again by their children to wear trainers. 'But Charlie is wearing Nikes to school and he says they are worth £100, why can't I get some'.

It's irritating.

I think that if there are rules for school uniforms they should be rules that everyone follows. End of. It's not one rule for the rich kids and one rule for the other kids.

OP I do get your point about branding. That is the only remotely valid argument in favour of any form of school uniform. However even if you run a really strict uniform policy the children will still manage to find something to be snobby and competitive about - bags, pencil cases, lunchboxes, phones, hairbands, shoes... So all in all I would love to see the end of this ridiculous obsession that so many British schools have with making children look like junior bank clerks from the 1960's.

My daughter wears leggings underneath her skirt or pinafore. This is because she is too thin to wear tights - she has no bum and they continually slide down (often taking her knickers with them). I adjust the waistband of leggings to the stay up. I tried with school girls trousers but I couldn't take them in enough without them looking silly.
School haven't objected and if they did I'd argue with them that this is the only way to preserve her modesty and keep her warm.

However in general I agree that supermarket school uniform is cheaper than many of the non-uniform options I see and it does look tidier.

I’m not saying suit smart but just clean and tidy with decent shoes. But I’m not a fan of joggers particularly. I’m not saying ties for kids in primary but purely decent trousers, skirt and polo top. It doesn’t have to be blazers and ties. I Just think it looks scruffy otherwise. And I think it’s about pride. Like I say I’m not going for over the top little executives.

Sometimes for biys in infants they prefer jogging bottoms for going to the loo an annoying amount of cheap uniform trousers have complicated fastenings

’But Charlie is wearing Nikes to school and he says they are worth £100, why can't I get some'.

“So go ask Charlie’s mum to buy you some” Easily dealt with. I’m not sure why it is up to Charlie’s mum to do things differently to make it easier for you not to say no to your child.

I know posters will say sensory issues but my DD is friends with these girls and they just like to wear leggings apparently 😯

So sensory issues are null and void because your girls’ friends haven’t admitted to you that they have sensory issues?

I work in a pretty conservative environment (big4 accountancy) and looking round hardly any of the men are wearing ties.

Snap! We have a casual dress policy now, which means the men only really wear ties for client meetings and quite often not even then.

Next year DS will be year 6 which means he has to wear a tie. So I'll be dropping him off to Primary school wearing a shirt and tie and then going on to my job at a Big 4 wearing jeans. It's madness really!

I'd love a joggers and sweatshirt policy through Primary school, so much more practical (and less ironing...)

YABU. Joggers for school uniform would be much comfier and warmer for my lot. No-one is much interested in branding where I am so doesn't cause issues.

My eldest (DD) went to school in black jeans, a dark green/ camouflage pattern jumper and black and white trainers today. My middle one wore blue jeans and a grey long sleeve t shirt with a skateboard picture and blue and yellow trainers. My youngest wore green joggers and a long sleeve Minecraft t shirt and his new blue snow boots.

It's good living in a country where school uniform is a funny foreign novelty to shock primary school children with when you go in to talk about your culture to your kid's class

When kids are used to choosing for themselves they pretty much all just wear jeans when older, jeans or joggers when little.

DH and I both wear jeans for work too.

Why should kids wear nylon trousers because for some reason some people think they look "smart". It's very odd.

The oddest thing though is that schools with uniform often dictate a dark colour coat be worn, presumably to camouflage children walking to school in the dark in winter and ensure a higher rate of pedestrian traffic injuries...

If you're going to have a uniform surely you dictate a neon yellow reflective safety coat? :o

I’m not saying suit smart but just clean and tidy with decent shoes.

But jogging bottoms are clean and are tidy. Better than ripped jeans that are in fashion among adults.
And proper shoes for DS are shoes he can play football with.
They don't affect his learning ability, but can affect his playing ability.

Kids should be kids. Not idealised mini-versions of adults.

MN is going BONKERS.
Slagging of social housing tenants, pandora wearers and now being outraged at children wearing children's clothing. Clothing designed to be comfortable and suitable for active wear.

Mine all wear joggers to school in the winter. WTF has laziness got to do with it? Why is it lazy to put your kids in joggers rather than trousers?

Joggers are warm, comfy and easy to wash.
Is it the ease of washing and lack of ironing that offends you?
Does it mean I am a lazy parent because I don't spend my evenings steaming, starching and pressing?

You are bonkers.

DD1 wore jogging bottoms to primary school, because her dyspraxia meant she found getting dressed very difficult - she only mastered putting on most basic clothes by the age of 8, and that was after being shown how step by step, thousands of times ! The alternative was the staff helping her to get dressed after PE? They were an acceptable part of her school's uniform!

I can't see why that bothers other people, whose children are "normal"! OP needs to think laterally, about why some parents might prefer them!

YABU
For little children, the more comfortable the clothes the better IMO

Uniforms are shit. Overpriced, the crappiest material ever. I'd rather my child to sit at school in comfortable and good quality clothes made from good quality material which is good for the skin.
I'd prefer the jogging bottoms everyday, sadly we can't and she has to wear a crested jumper which is from the worst material ever. We just dumped one which was already patched up and having new holes in it.
It just makes me not care about how the uniform looks like or if there are any holes in it.

Well I d8nt have an issue with children going to school in tracksuit.
I do have an issue with people also demandingbthat children are wearing a certain uniform etc...

Either schools in the U.K. are asking children to wear a uniform or not. If not, then everyone can go with whatever clothes they want.
If there is a uniform (because it’s better as it does show differences in the amount of money Laurent’s bla-bla-bla), then everyone should stick to the uniform.

Just make your mind up!

I actually bought naice trousers from M&S that I was told by the school to change for joggers as he was struggling with them (and the supermarket alternative I tried).

I always assume that there's a reason that some kids are wearing joggers but never that it's parental laziness.

You sound mean.