Why do kids hate wearing coats?

[malificent7]

I love voats and csnnot get enough of them...stylish, cozy , cool anf practical. Bit kids seem to hate them.
I had to force 11 year old dd to take her coat in on this cold, frosty morning. Apparently its because school wont let them wear them indoors so she has to carey it around. Stupid rule but its hardly difficult to carry a jacket. The school and dd are being unreasonable aren't they?

I hated coats as a kid and still do now. I rarely wear one, has to be really freezing cold or pouring rain! I hate the thickness, I hate wearing layers, hate being too hot - I just don’t like coats!

You feel colder as you get old I think. Its hassle carrying coats about and it doesn't get so cold here that they really need it. A jumper or hoodie and hat/gloves can normally suffice for short or bus journeys.

Both mine have pac a macs in bags for unexpected rain but only wear coats in snow. Apparently as they are outside more for snow ball fights

It's not universal and I think the poster who says schools are the root cause is right.

We live abroad - no uniforms, any coat you want and no rules about not wearing your coat inside or anything.

All the kids here wear coats. Any coat they want of course, from a leather jacket to an illuminous yellow ski coat and anything in between. It's a good thing IMO.

For my kids (age 2 and 4) it's because they object strongly to anything that you want them to do.

Lots of kids at my DC's school do wear coats, so I think it depends on the school.
Dd has one from Primark that packs up quite small into a pocket, so she can shove it in her school bag. It's a puffy coat, not a packamac. It's not massively warm, and not fully waterproof either, but better than nothing, and at least she will happily wear it - previous coat was rejected because she couldn't fit it in her bag.

I very rarely wear a coat and my girls are just like me. They are annoying things and I definitely wouldn't wear one if I then had to carry it around with me all day!
People know it is actually very cold if they see me in one.
I love a warm scarf though!

I have no idea, but DS1 (9) just doesn't seem to feel the cold so he can't see the point in a coat. He went off to school in a short sleeved top yesterday when it was 3 degrees and there was a frost. He misses school only 2-3 days per year through illness so I've given up trying to enforce it!

Wasn't allowed to carry them round school all day and my locker was a mile away from the school exit meaning it would take me longer to leave if i went to get it and maybe my shitty teenage friends would walk home without me (the horror)!

Teenagers are weird, me included!

Nowhere to put it at school - no lockers nor cloakrooms, so kids have to carry them around (along with their rucksack full of books and games kit). Not allowed to wear them in lessons and some schools don't allow to wear them at any time during the school day, not even when walking outside between blocks etc. My son's school have stupid rules like that - and they're on two different sites, so quite a long walk between lessons in the outdoors and still they get disciplined if a teacher sees them wearing a coat, even if it's chucking it down or snowing! (Of course, teachers wear their coats!).

Because it takes a whole two seconds to put on, several more to zip-button them and another two seconds to take them off again. Come on, kids are busy people.

My DDs rarely wore coats at secondary school. They had to wear blazers at all times, and so opted for blazer + scarf+ gloves in the winter. Coats took up too much locker space, so you could either store a coat or store PE kit/books etc. Teachers were known to get a bit ratty if coats were brought into the classroom - they took up too much space there as well!

It depends upon the area and the kids involved.

You look at the kids who live in the arse end of nowhere (like my DP did) and they will have warm outerwear. Because stuff 'looking cool' when you could end up with frostbite waiting for the bus. Or, in recent years, the Polish/Eastern European kids. Hypothermia is not a fashion statement.

But the ones who got driven to and from school didn't need a coat. So they wouldn't wear one.

In other areas, if you're too poor to afford a coat, the obvious answer is to rip the piss out of the kids who have one. Embarrass them into freezing their arses off as well. Or they've never actually owned a coat, so they feel strange and restrictive.

Or you get the shitty looking Roadman coats. Cost a fortune, but all they do is make the wearer look like a fly in a binbag. incredibly desirable though - to the point of wearing the fucking things in the middle of last summer's heatwave.

I think that, rather than insisting upon no coats, no hoodies, a nice coat must be worn, etc, each school should subsidise the purchase of a very warm hoodie so that they are cheaper than a coat. Make sure it has pockets that are fleece lined, make sure that it will keep in as much heat as possible. Make it in a neutral colour, but most of all, MAKE IT AFFORDABLE - even give it away. And stop fucking banning them from wearing t-shirts underneath their shirts.

No child should have to be cold because the only way of accessing warm clothes is to break the rules - and making being warm unattainable for a significant proportion of the population is a guaranteed way to create inequality.

I used to walk to school when it was snowing carrying my coat rather than wear it. I just walked and ran and didn't feel the cold. I force my kids to wear their coats. Secondary schoolers are always complaining

"coats are stupid" according to my 12 year old DD. She's just gone off to an outdoor club without a coat and was complaining how cold she was. I'm not sure it's the costs that are stupid here.

I managed to get DS to wear a coat to school when he was in year 7. He put it in his locker and that's where it's been ever since. He's in year 10 now!

You try carrying your coat and a big bag all day. They move between classes so every hour they are carrying them. Then juggle bag, coat and lunch. It's a pain.

Plus they want to exert some independence.

They want to be the same as their peers.

Let them choose whether they wear it or not. It's not going to hurt them if they don't.

I did the same , my D did the same and I'm sure my grandchild will as well.

I've always felt the cold, and I've always had hormonal chills. My teachers had to practically pry my jacket off my back at school! I was always wrapped up!

I did the no coats phase for a few years. Partly because of the portablity issue at school, plus coats not being comfortable over blazers. Largely because I had a "perfectly good coat" that still fitted from y8 which was a little girl's coat and not remotely cool by the time I reached y9/10/11 and DM flatly refused to replace it when I refused to wear it.

I definitely ran hotter in my youth. These days, my long-johns are a winter essential

Corridors at class change time are packed - if everyone was carrying a coat they wouldn't fit. It is awkward to carry a coat around all day. It makes your arms ache.

That said I used to wear mine because I hated being cold.

I rarely wear a coat. They’re restricting, weighty and a pain to carry if not worn.
If you’re walking at a pace you tend not to get cold. Most of the time it’s car park to train or car park to shop. A coat isn’t really needed. Fair enough if you’re at a bonfire or on the beach in winter for an hour or so but generally they’re not necessary.
My children didn’t wear them to school usually. We sent a small fortune on coats over the years but they were lost or outgrown, having hardly been worn. I gave up persuading them once they were five or over unless we were standing around outside.

I never wore a coat, used to go out and break ice if the pond

My eldest (13) won't wear a coat, and rarely will wear a jumper. He wears shorts most of the year round (not for school) and just doesn't seem to feel the cold easily. He does overheat easily though.

He has a coat and jumpers though so can choose to wear them if he wants. Not going to force him to wear it, if he gets cold then it's a natural consequence. If I forced him, it would be off (and no doubt left at his backside somewhere) as soon as he was out of sight of the house.

Coats are rife in my school. I think most of my Year 10 tutor group were wearing one on Monday. Students can't wear them in lessons unless given permission because it's really cold in that room, but free to wear them at all other times.

If it rains, my room looks like a laundry, with coats dripping everywhere.

All students have a free locker in their form rooms. They are well used.

My four year old refused to wear his coat for the walk to school, I would normally force him but thought sod it. So today he did the twenty minute walk to and from school without a coat, he’s just getting his bits ready for school tomorrow and added his coat to the pile, lesson learned.

I have just been talking to my DH on this subject. Our 14 yr DS wont wear a coat OR a jumper! He is going on the school bus in a short sleeve shirt. It was 3 degrees here today . It drives me wild but I cant physically make him put one on.

@Preseacombatir I once taught in a school were staff were also not allowed to wear coats. The building was a new academy and totally useless...so hot in the summer, with so many windows, that one woman got sunstroke and freezing in winter.
If I felt it was too cold for me to be without my coat then I also let the kids in my class keep theirs on. I am a rebel!