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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

School ban Canada goose coats

413 replies

Unicornandbows · 20/11/2018 18:40

I feel slightly on the fence.. What do you think?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/16/schools-right-ban-pupils-wearing-designer-coats

OP posts:
Lostinlondon999 · 21/11/2018 17:37

We seem to be protecting our children from the path ahead rather than preparing them.
I personally would never spend that much in a coat. Firstly because I can’t afford it and secondly it’s jusr far too much money. I must admit I do love a Canada goose.
BUT banning these coats is ridiculous. It seems to be rich shaming rather than poor shaming the children who don’t have one.

MinecraftHolmes · 21/11/2018 17:40

suitable for my DC, I will buy it. End of.

We can only assume that the DC spend the weekends scaling the Eiger.

People who wear Canada Goose etc coats in the UK while pottering about the High Street or on the school run look like fannies.

happypoobum · 21/11/2018 17:40

I am just utterly gobsmacked that these teens are wearing coats at all.Mine would walk over a mile each way to secondary school in the snow and wouldn't be seen dead in anything that might be construed as a coat, regardless of cost.

They may be rich kids but they certainly aren't cool kids Grin

Sarahrellyboo1987 · 21/11/2018 17:41

Parents with more money than sense. The coats are ugly and only serve the purpose of ‘Look at me, look at me...we have money to waste’.

PumpkinKitty82 · 21/11/2018 17:43

Good , especially when it comes to Canada goose. They’re barbaric

Daniellamoss · 21/11/2018 17:45

School is not a fashion show they need to be wearing warm coats during this weather! Who cares what design it is a lot of parents including myself cannot afford this so called posh brands i shop at matalan for my sons school coat great quality and a decent price.

Cassimin · 21/11/2018 17:45

Sorry I haven’t rtt but noticed upthread that someone said where the school was. They also said they are probably fakes.
I agree with this, I have been to the area in Manchester that sells the fakes and you can get anything, from Alexander mcqeeen to fendi, and most look the same as the originals.
People go there, stock up and sell the items on line.
They can make a fortune.
Hopefully the reasons are ethical as I imagine these parents are paying around the same price for these coats as ones from next, m&s etc.

EvaReady · 21/11/2018 17:48

School is not a fashion show Try telling that to a 13 year old! Grin

MaisyPops · 21/11/2018 17:49

People who wear Canada Goose etc coats in the UK while pottering about the High Street or on the school run look like fannies
Probably the same people who spend thousands on an off road 4x4 to navigate suburban speed bumps.

blueskiesandforests · 21/11/2018 17:53

I'm pretty sure rich shaming is fictional, invented nonsense.

You cannot rich shame anyone because people, especially people who buy conspicuously expensive consumer goods and display them, are not ashamed of being rich.

You can only "shame" someone if they are ashamed of the characteristic, or if the overwhelming majority of their peers see it as a fault.

A certain kind of very conspicuous show of money gets shamed because people see it as shameful. People used to call it vulgarity. Trump's gold plated everything apartment type thing.

Probably that shouldn't be shamed either, in that nothing should and people shouldn't judge anyone else etc etc.

It isn't "rich shaming" though. It's the very unbritish (but also disapproved of in plenty of other countries) "showing off" that people find distasteful and "shame", I suspect.

Ruddle91 · 21/11/2018 18:00

Crickey I spent £100 on a down Rab coat in a sale 3 years ago and thought that was a splurge 😂

LokiBear · 21/11/2018 18:02

Im a head of year. I don't mind parents buying their kids whatever they see fit. But, I find it very annoying when I am held accountable for the coat if it gets lost/stolen or damaged. If a parent reports a coat lost, we have a lost and found box that gets checked, an email goes out to staff and cleaners and we hope for its safe return. This is the protocol for any coat - whether it be a £20 Tesco coat or an £800 designer one. However, I have had many an irate parent demanding I find the designer item or demand the school buys another one. Ringing up two or three times a day insisting that it is found, accusing other children, threatening to go to the police etc. That is massively unreasonable. To a poorer family, a £20 is a huge loss, so why should a designer coat get special treatment? Also, kids are kids. They do daft things and things get damaged. The textiles teacher will often patch and fix (she regularly sews boys ripped trousers) but wouldnt touch a designer parent for fear of being blamed for the damage and being asked to pay for it. As I said, parents can do what they like. But, if an item of clothing is that valuable, school is not the best place for it.

Rubali512 · 21/11/2018 18:04

If a parent chooses to buy a coat for their child then surely it’s no one else’s business? Regardless of the cost.

LetsGoFlyAKiteee · 21/11/2018 18:08

Course if a expensive coat gets damaged or lost the parents are more likely to blame the school then the child. Be nice to think otherwise but can imagine it being so unlikely.

KoshaMangsho · 21/11/2018 18:10

Hmm. I agree that it’s a lot of money to spend on a coat in the UK. However in North America where tomorrow the temperature is going to plunge to -12 and where my kids play outside in that weather, a warm down coat that is waterproof is a necessity. You don’t have to spend 800 GBP but each of my kids coats this year were about 200 dollars-ish for their down coats plus the cost of snow pants and snow boots. Everyone is dressed similarly so there isn’t a brand envy as such. My kids are in a mix of Patagonia and North Face as am I. There isn’t a great deal of Canada Goose around here. I have seen more CG in the UK than in New England which tells me that it is way more style over substance.

mathanxiety · 21/11/2018 18:12

You can't teach respect for difference or for diversity in an environment where children are forced to all conform to uniform policies.
"We should all respect each other and accept difference..."
...can never sit well with:
"You will be publicly called out for divergences from the norm."

I am in the US and my DCs attend /have attended a non uniform high school, which is the norm in the US. The school catchment has a huge income range. (It's neither here nor there, but the winter weather warrants seriously warm outerwear).

No specific brands have ever been banned or ever will be.

The reason for this is that nobody gives a hoot what anyone wears since the vast majority of the kids have been wearing their own choice of clothing from their first day in school at age 4 or 5.

Children are not 'bullied for not having the right label'.
They are bullied because there is something seriously wrong with the bullies - their home life, their relationships with parents and their relationships with themselves. They are bullied because the bullies have no self esteem and are aggressive and live in a dog eat dog culture.

Tackle the bullies, not the random thing they choose to wield against other children.

Tackle the culture of envy.

Tackle the conformity culture in schools.

mathanxiety · 21/11/2018 18:17

KoshaMangsho, my DCs wore Walmart snow pants and down jackets of various brands bought from Goodwill and garage sales, and exchanged among neighbours, and snow boots handed down from neighbours and cousins, and some bought new, which we passed down and passed on in turn.

I find Americans are far less materialistic and brand conscious than people from the UK (or Ireland for that matter).

Lilywc · 21/11/2018 18:20

im SO PLEASED they have banned these CRUEL coats! Coyotes are trapped and bludgeoned to death, skinned just for decoration on a coat! PLUS Goose feathers are plucked from Live Geese! just for the padding
these overpriced coats should be banned full stop!

Racecardriver · 21/11/2018 18:25

The school should just introduce a uniform if they are having problems with plain clothes.

angelfacecuti75 · 21/11/2018 18:25

If you can afford to buy a Canada Goose coat you can afford to buy a replacement coat to meet uniform standards from what I've heard they cost!

MeaganRain · 21/11/2018 18:26

You gotta be cool. What's the point of living once you realize you are not special, like everyone else, not a unique snowflake
. How else can one define how awesome they are without a nice jacket then later on in life work for that bank load to have a nicer car and house than people you know?

Lilywc · 21/11/2018 18:33

theres plenty of ways to keep warm without wearing one of these jackets, i feel that no one is aware or cares about the cruelty caused in the making of these coats! NO one Needs to WEAR REAL FUR!!

Sarahrellyboo1987 · 21/11/2018 18:35

@mathanxiety I have several family members in the states as well as friends.
All have gone to non uniform schools. All have said what an issue bullying is because of clothing. They live in different areas and have different income levels.

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