To wonder why secondary school kids never wear coats even when it’s raining?

[Herbalteahippie]

When I was at school in the early 90s it was uncool to wear a coat even when it was pudding down or cold. I even got punched and kicked for wearing a coat!
I live by a school and I see nothing has changed- drenched teenagers plodding home soaking wet.
Why?!

*Pissing down not pudding!

I thought exactly the same this morning. Sat in traffic in pouring rain observing a group of school boys soaked at the bus stop just in jumpers or blazers, no waterproof coat

We didn’t have any lockers at school and nowhere to leave coats so they where more hassle than they were worth!

I went out without a coat this morning. It was raining a bit but not cold. Half the time you end up carrying the sodding thing

It's fashion innit.

All the kids wear their costs at dc secondary school. Why would they want to be cold/wet? There are several large secondary schools in our city in the same area and majority wear coats. The pupils travel to the schools from a wide catchment area

No lockers and not allowed to wear them in school causes problems really

DS doesn't wear a coat as he has nowhere to put it. They don't have lockers and they are not allowed outdoor clothing on in school so as soon as he gets on school grounds, if he is wearing a coat he has to take it off and try and cram it into his already stuffed bag.

We have bought him a lightweight raincoat that fits into the front pocket of his rucksack but he doesn't always take it.

They don’t have lockers at my DCs school and there’s nowhere to leave it, so would have to carry it round all day. Mine have a foldable raincoat that goes in their bags, but they don’t often wear them.

No lockers or cloakrooms so they have to carry them around all day.

Annoying to carry.
Doesn't fit well with blazers.
Mum bought a "perfectly good coat" with growing room just as you stopped growing and won't replace it even though it's tragically unfashionable.

I have a secondary school on my road, in the height of summer many of them are dressed for an arctic expedition. In the winter they are coatless, short sleeved, bare legged, in other words they are teenagers.

Thanks for your replies!

I hate the no lockers or pegs thing. I have 2 children at 2 different secondary schools and my eldest's school has lockers so I presumed they all did. It was only in the summer I realised my son's school didn't have lockers he hates rainy days because he has to carry his dripping wet coat round with him all day. Would be easier to not bother with a coat but he hates getting wet so not an option!!

Lockers not big enough for a proper coat and they get confiscated if they’re seen in corridors.

At my last school, I suspect that it was largely due to it being very rural, so the vast majority were bussed in (seriously, 20+ buses at the end of the day! 😱 Bus duty was a military exercise) so it’s not like they were going far without a coat anyway.

Also, they weren’t allowed to carry them in the building, or have them in view in the classroom. So, it’s either shove soaking wet coat in your bag, or in your locker. Not very appealing!

I was the naughty tutor last year, because I let my Year 11 tutees drape their wet jackets over my classroom radiators to dry all day. They were in their final year, they had more important stuff to worry about most days.

Mine is obviously unusual. I have just had to peel his wet coat off him. Just collected him from his school bus still wearing it and he will keep it on round the house quite happily. He is quite quirky though, so I suspect it is part of his thang...

They are a pain to carry round, they get lost, they get stolen, they might not have the 'right' coat to avoid derision, uniform rules might even say 'no coats' like I was going to let mine walk through the snow up a farm track to the school without one.

Coats are a pain. I'm 46 and I'm still massively uncomfortable in the things, as I won't pay out a several hundred quid for something that fits, is warm, waterproof, light and easy to store in a desk drawer, as we don't have places to hang coats up either.

All the kids wear coats here. Ds1 does.

My ds has just started secondary. His bag is heavy...there's no lockers or cloakrooms so it's just one extra thing to carry. So far he's not been cold as weather isn't freezing yet and he wears a jumper under his blazer. I wonder what will happen if it snows

DD wears a jumper plus a blazer. Unless it is freezing she is warmer than me with a blouse and coat.

She has an umbrella plus a pack-a-mac if it pours down in the morning. When it is really cold she wears a coat but she has to put it into her tiny locker which already houses her arts and PE kit.

As they move rooms for each class there is no point in thinking about hooks outside the classrooms like I had it in secondary when we stayed put for lessons unless it was science or arts and these rooms had hooks as well.

When my dd was at school, they weren't allowed anything other than a plain black raincoat - the zip, buttons and logos had to be black too. They weren't allowed to trimmed with ribbons, or other decoration. This was easier said than done. No parents could source such a raincoat! My dd used to walk the 1.5 miles there and back in the compulsory wool blazer which would take all night to dry out and smell like a manky dog.

Ds1 had no issue at his school with outdoor coats and had a cloakroom provided to hang them. With Ds2's school there were no cloakrooms or lockers (new build too) and he hated carrying a heavy wet coat so subsequently went without until absolutely necessary.

The teenagers at my Sons school all wear coats in winter. In Summer they aren't allowed to take their blazers odd unless there is a freak heatwave.

Mine wear coats on top of their blazers when it's pissing down (as do their mates) otherwise they get on the bus soaking wet and don't get dry for the rest of the day.

Saw lots of soaking wet children in blazers tonight here too, OP. DD has a lightweight jacket in her locker (although she didn't bother to get a locker last year) and had a coat with her so she was damp, but not too bad.

As PP have said, there seems to be a thing in schools about not wearing outdoor clothes inside - same at DD's school. Can't wear coats so have to carry them round or stuff in locker/bag.