To object to Christmas jumper day?

[Drummingisfun]

DS school have already put on the calendar that they are doing Christmas jumper day, for a £1 donation to save the children.

AIBU to feel uncomfortable about it?
I am not just being a scrooge, I don't object to most festive activities but:
1)parents on a very low income are out under pressure to buy and jumper and also contribute £1. Note that there are THREE OTHER non uniform days scheduled before this also with a £1 donation.

2. It means people buying jumpers which will barely be worn, which is terrible for the environment. Bad if they are made of nylon/acrylic/polyester as all plastics, bad if made from cheap unsustainable cotton due to massive water consumption and pollution by factories. Anyone who watched the recent Stacey Dooley documentary will know what I'm talking about.

3. the irony of donating the money to save the children when most people will have bought their child the cheapest jumper they can find for a couple of quid, meaning that children are likely to have been harmed at some stage in the production either by sweatshop labour, massive unsustainable farming, factories polluting their living environment and water source...

AIBU? I love Christmas but I just feel that school shouldn't be promoting pointless consumerism like this.

Totally agree. It annoys me beyond belief.

I just gave the money and they went dressed in red or green.

DS1 is very particular about clothes so I don't buy anything that doesn't have a very high chance of being worn although at least DS2 is far more open about what he wears. I got lucky last year on a short sleeved t-shirt that had a small enough pattern that he's got away with wearing all year.

DS2 loves seasonal clothes so I don't mind buying for him as he'll wear it at any old time of the year. I buy with enough growing room to get through a couple of winters.

Buying for one day for a £1 donation is a total farce. I got caught out in the school I worked in with short notice... I managed to squeeze into age 11-12 as the smaller adult sizes had gone

Fundraising is fine, but I agree with the OP that this is not something that should be supported. Donations to charity can be encouraged by some other activity.

100% agree with you OP.

YANBU - lots of vile acrylic tat which will wash badly - if at all - and end up in landfill.

I've worn sparkly tops before. I point-blank refuse to wear a fucking snowman/reindeer at 50+ and my norks make such items really unflattering.

I am also pretty skint. It's shit of the school - should be tinsel hair decoration or the like.

Complain!

Totally agree with you. Buy something that is worn once, manufactured by child labour. It's all very wrong

Agree with all the points ^Drummingisfun* has made and I think we should be feeding these view back to schools, it is just encouraging pointless consumerism and there are lots of other (more sustainable) ways to have 'fun', however, especially with young ones I get the peer pressure thing - I look in 2nd hand shops or ebay for cheap / recycled options, but ultimately as someone else said - it's bollocks. We even have X-mas jumper days at work (a college) - really? Why not give the tenner it cost to charity without the environmental damage?!

Those who have said the school needs to raise PTA money somehow, they aren't doing it for PTA funds, money is going to 'Save The Children'
I have actually only discovered through this that save the children actually encourage this jumper nonsense in order to raise money.

Sounds like a fundraising event to me. I hope that you email the school and explain damage to the environment. It’s worth a try at least. Also adding this is your child so you should get the chance to decide for yourself. But be careful here. Politely ask if you have to do it or not and suggest alternatives.

I love Christmas clothing, new to loving Christmas, but luckily I sew so always make our festive clothes.

But no way should it be 'technically voluntary but come on who's going to send their child in to be singled out as poor' like all the other sodding themed give a donation days.

We're low income, I've just seen I've got a £21 trip to pay for on the parent pay. Only just spent £7 on a special visitor thing. Not being funny but £21 is two weeks shopping, what with the two 'please give £1' letters we've had since she started nursery I'm foreseeing a lot of small dinners in my future.

My dc don't wear jumpers so i don't buy them xmas ones. They do like other Xmas clothes so they wear a dress or top. The school are lenient - it doesn't have to be a jumper.

All our old clothes go to charity shops so i would hope they get used for a while.

I never could afford it, so i totally agree with you op. Tinsel is the way.

You could do a couple of things:

1. Take part 2) Don't take part or 3) Get a jumper that they already have and jazz it up a little with tinsel and stuff.

YANBU. Last year I bought my two the selfish mother charity ones last year. 50% of the sale of each went to Save the Children UK, and because they weren’t too overtly ‘Christmassy’ they have worn them multiple times since and will be wearing them again this year.

I happily support other kinds of school dressing up but I have always refused to participate in the Christmas jumper nonsense as I think it’s incredibly wasteful.

Spending £20 each year in order to give £2 to Save the Children is ridiculous.

We don’t participate other than to donate money.

I COMPLETELY agree with you. The first supermarket etc that says profit from their jumper will go to whichever charity it is (and promises it isn't made in a sweatshop) will get my xmas jumper business and I promise to buy one or two other things while there!

hi my name is phina last christmas jumper day i was on a very low income and what i did.Was look on ebay and the local area for second hand.My thoughts were its nice for charity and the jumper does not have to be worn for just one day.

I got a nice festive long shirt for my daughter for a pound from someone on face book.She loved it and wore it loads and its fun for the children.

With kids theres quite a few things that seem pointless but we do them anyway because it makes them happy.We can reduce environmental damage by buying second hand re using perfectly good clothes that would damage the environment if thrown away

You need time, and an inclination to expend it on Christmas jumpers, to do that rosydreams. Lots of people lack that, including many cash-rich time-poor people who will just buy a Christmas jumper from a supermarket, with very little thought. Not all of them will pass clothes on for re-use.

So, supermarket gains a £10 sale, charity gains £1 and there is a negative environmental impact.

Whereas, schools could say 'normal non-uniform day' (people could be as Christmassy or not as they wish), charge £1, charity gains the same without the other costs. Or PTAs could do their own jumper-recycling stalls, so make money for the school and the charity.

The question is 'should schools / PTAs do it'? Given that not everyone has time or the inclination to recycle clothes, so there will be a large number of cheap, new jumpers purchased. (Not so much 'should you the individual parent, participate. Though the suggestions for work-arounds here have been really good).

Whilst I agree with you OP, instead of complaining to the school, who are trying to do something festive and charitable, contact Save The children and complain, they actively promote Christmas Jumper Day after all.

My DC do participate, they wear them multiple times during December, and we donate their jumpers to charity in the new year, so they are 'recycled' by another parent needing a Christmas jumper the following year.

Yes indeed, 'Should StC promote this' is a very valid question too.

Buy a jumper from eBay/charity shop, I sold a lovely jumper on eBay not long ago for a few quid, my kids wear their Christmas jumpers when have a Christmas lunch at school, also wear it on Christmas Day too. I can’t see the problem myself.

In our school you are encouraged to jazz up anything you own. In fact they give prizes for best and bought ones don't get a look in. They also have a donations are welcome but not necessary rule, as it should be.

Take an existing jumper and bling it up with tinsel. Done

You make excellent points and YANBU. ‘Save The Children’ are only going to ‘make’ a pound out of you, but how much is it going to cost people (including families who are eligible for their help) to buy the blooming jumper in the first place? When my daughter was younger I was in a terrible financial position, this kind of thing was a real strain. I remember being asked (pressured) to contribute to charities when I was a charity case myself! Obviously charities have to fund raise, but could they not ask for contributions in a way that doesn’t involve you spending other money, in this case a jumper, too. I also agree it’s just a waste of clothing that is of no use outside of Christmas. I used to go around with holes in my shoes, but I know I would have scrimped to buy my daughter a jumper, because I’d feel pressured and you don’t want your own child to miss out/feel different and it can feel humiliating to tell people, that aren’t your friends, that you just don’t have £5 to cover what you’re being asked for.