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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that camouflage clothing on children is in poor taste?

146 replies

chisigirl · 20/10/2007 18:27

Am I just old and grumpy or is it reasonable to believe that young children should NOT be wearing camouflage clothing?! I can't stand the stuff but my DS's (4 and 2) have just been given rather a lot of it as gifts! What do you think?

OP posts:
bozza · 20/10/2007 22:04

What's the difference between a "baseball cap (chav style)" and "a baseball cap". My DS is encouraged to wear one when it is sunny but I didn't realise avoiding sunburn was chavvy.

stoppinattwo · 20/10/2007 22:06

oh i think playing the chavvy card has just blown the arguement out of the water!!!!

Sorry but you Cant call it chavvy

notnowbernard · 20/10/2007 22:07

What's the difference between a 'chav' child and a 'non-chav' child?

Who's brave enough to list the characteristics of each?

moljam · 20/10/2007 22:09

claraenglish how old is you dc?ds or dd?just wondering if theyll have say in how they look as they get older.chav isnt great word to describe a child.

its just a pattern

claraenglish · 20/10/2007 22:10

Message withdrawn

FrannyandZooey · 20/10/2007 22:10

I don't know about poor taste, but I certainly don't like it

it isn't just a pattern, it's a style of clothing used by the military, not IMO an appropriate way to dress children

moljam · 20/10/2007 22:11

oh sorry just seen ,your pregnant

claraenglish · 20/10/2007 22:11

Message withdrawn

corblimeycharlie · 20/10/2007 22:11

I thought this discussion was about children wearing clothes in a fabric that was originally designed for warfare and the appropriateness of that, but now I see it is an argument about class.
I shall of course bow out here and leave you to it.

Original poster
chisigirl · 20/10/2007 22:14

Just wanted to point out, btw, that when I wrote "poor taste" in the thread, I didn't mean in a fashion/style sense but in the sense of little children pretending to be doing what most definitely should be an adult's job.

I would certainly support them if either DS joined the services when they are grown up. But, to me, that is the key: being a soldier is a "grown up", mature job. IMO, it's not comparable to dressing up as a doctor/nurse/fireman/etc.

OP posts:
Tortington · 20/10/2007 22:14

what makes me piss - PISS with anger is the mass of posters saying its inappropriate to dress children in a military style.

yes when i did a thread about how digusting it is for the army to go into secondary schools and tell 14 yo boys how great it is to shoot fuck out of another human eing ( whilst quadbiking in spare time)

i got a " well....whats the problem, its a career choice" at 14

we'll see

Original poster
chisigirl · 20/10/2007 22:14

x-posted with you there, corblimeycharlie! I agree...

OP posts:
FrankAwenstein · 20/10/2007 22:18

I wasnt meaning to start a whole class arguement etc.. I also didnt say i was being reasonable at all. Just stereotyping from what i have experienced locally (been alot of trouble in the area generally and we are moving, partly due to it).
I will also step away if this is going to go down the whole class route because certainly not what i meant. I guess (if we are honest) we all judge on appearance and that (sadly) includes what peoples children wear. And through our own experiences form our own judgements. Doesnt mean we are right to tho.

FrannyandZooey · 20/10/2007 22:18

are you saying that those of us who don't like army clothing think it's ok for the military to go into schools custy? I am not quite sure who you are pissed off with

and I can't see a mass of posters on here saying that, I can see a handful and everyone else saying it is ok

3andnogore · 20/10/2007 22:19

chisigirl...how is it different????? It's a career choice....for adults,

as a child it's roleplay...and usually within a childs view there is not teh aggression....just as playing doctors doesn't usually mean they are playing er, with severe cases of limp amputation, etc....

notnowbernard · 20/10/2007 22:19

Chisigirl, I apologise: I did translate your op to mean poor-taste=crap style choice by parent.

Can't say I've ever equated camouflage clothing on an infant or child to warfare

moljam · 20/10/2007 22:22

gree with notnowbernard.'Can't say I've ever equated camouflage clothing on an infant or child to warfare'.

Lauriefairycake · 20/10/2007 22:23

Ok custy I'll wade in with a point of view about what you've just posted as I think it's interesting what you said.

I think it's inappropriate when i think about it to dress children in camou stuff

I also think its ok for the army to go into secondary schools

I hold both of these points of view because the British army is the most professional army in the world - they (unlike other cough army's across the water) have it drilled into them to respect human life and to actively go against bad behaviour in their unit - trained in the rules of engagement very seriously.

Other armies are built for war and our army is built for policing and adjusting flexibly.

Original poster
chisigirl · 20/10/2007 22:30

3andnogore,

I suppose I view an adult making a decision to join the army different from a child playig soliders because (hopefully) the adult has thought about/understands the ramifications about what they're doing it, why they're doing it, etc.

Maybe it's just my 4 year old DS but he doesn't exactly 'get' the subtleties of warfare and modern geo-politics. He wants to know about whether a particular soldier he might see (in a newspaper, on street, in a restaurant, etc) is "good" or "bad". Or he'll ask me why me very-hard-to-answer questions about how can a soldier be "good" if they have a gun and sometimes have to use it to kill someone. I have been pulled into discussions that I'd prefer not to have had with him but just try my best to explain things. With time, of course, he'll mature and will hopefully be able to see that things aren't always black and white, that what's right and wrong will depend on who you are, etc etc.

OP posts:
FrightOwl · 20/10/2007 22:32

i dont like it. i cant offer a rational explanation why, i just dont like it. its a pattern that doesnt appeal to me.

just as the picture of me (aged 4) in brown flared dungarees, with a massive yellow lion on the front still makes me cringe!

i also hate most boys clothes i see in shops, and most of ds's clothes that other people have bought. (skulls, graffitti).

again, i dont know why.

although i probably am quite odd. i have never and will never buy anything for myself or kids, that bears a logo of any sort. i dont like them.

im a plain old kinda person.

Tortington · 20/10/2007 22:33

whilst i don not disagree that our army may well have the attributes you are suggesting. I think that is different from registering interest in chidren at school

3andnogore · 20/10/2007 22:37

custy...how do you feel about any other profession going into school?

3andnogore · 20/10/2007 22:40

must admit, my children, probably because they actually know the real uniform, do not mistake their occasional camou clothing for a soldiers uniform, whatsoever, they don't use it for role play or anything...however, ms was given one of those mini dress up soldier camou gear and indeed he will use that to imitate a soldier, well, his perception of it!

Must admit, as a Kid, growing up with lots of boys around, playing soldiers was as much of a common game as hide and seek, etc....don't think it made me into a violent person though!

Donk · 20/10/2007 23:02

I just think its silly - I need to be able to SEE my 4yr old DS when we go out and he starts playing silly bs and hiding everywhere!
Last think I need is a camouflaged DS.
(and no, I don't 'let' him - and I do take him straight home, once I've found him)

Blu · 20/10/2007 23:16

Ahem Custy, before you cause yourself more laundry than necessary - as one of the few posters saying i choose not to dress my child in the style of modern warfare 9and not liking the look of it, and he's only just 6 so doesn't pressurise for clothes) I was on your side in your army thread. So there is consistency and you don't need to resort to a dirty protest!!

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