New school bag and lunchbox every September?

[AvocadoHo]

Light hearted debate with OH.

Making a list of school uniform needed for daughter (8) going back to school.

He rolled his eyes snd asked "why does she need a new bag? What's wrong with the one she has?"

Nothing is wrong with it, it's just a bit grubby and battered. But when I was growing up we had a new bag and lunch box every year. He feels this is excessive.

Is it really that uncommon?

@lazylump72

I see a lot of different attitudes on here and I may be rightly so regarded as selfish and frivolous but what about the kids?Cannot we just spoil them?Why can;t they have what they want?Who says you have a bag you must respect that bag or die trying?You must value said bag or you are a horrible child...its bull. Kids change their minds, they like and want new things all the time I see no problem with this if parents can afford to do so.

"Can't we just spoil them" is the attitude causing massive issues with overconsumption, waste and using up resources. Yes its OK to spoil kids from time to time, but I would wager its not from time to time is it? Its a new backpack one week, new trainers another week, toys, magazines, more clothes they don't need etc etc. Multiplied by 66 million people...

DS's school are asking him to bring in a laptop in the new term. Following on from parents buying everything new in September, do I need to buy a new laptop every September, to go with his new bag and pencil case?

@ineedaholidaynow

DS's school are asking him to bring in a laptop in the new term. Following on from parents buying everything new in September, do I need to buy a new laptop every September, to go with his new bag and pencil case?

And a new laptop case. You don’t want him to be the scruffy kid with last year’s Apple Mac.

A few people have said this, or something similar. But why can't you just institute a new "going back to school" tradition, that doesn't involve buying unnecessary items? Going for a milkshake after school shoes/uniform shopping, for example?
Back-to-school wildfire watching, or back-to-school wading through flash floods. 🥰

But @burritofan think how "smart" they will look with their shiny unicorn pencil cases as they write about their weekends spent bailing out the downstairs of their homes...perhaps they can fill the old school bags with sand to act as barricade.

@Fudgein

I buy new every year, as does everyone I know. However I do always give any items still in good condition to the school & they distribute them to families who need them. I do the same with uniform & mostly it's all in good condition as my DD seems to grow at lightening speed. Although I generally only buy 2 new school outfits as, like previous posters mentioned, I will be buying more at christmas time when my DD will no doubt have grown again.

So kind Lady Bountiful!

So it’s ok for your children’s classmates to have your castoffs? But heaven forbid your own children use the same bag two years running.

I teach my kids about being wasteful, they don't ask for new lunch boxes and bags every year. They've had the same bag and lunch bag since September 19 when they needed replacing

So it’s ok for your children’s classmates to have your castoffs? But heaven forbid your own children use the same bag two years running.

I'm glad i'm not the only one who thinks it's a crap attitude. Surely it would be nicer to buy a new lunchbox for a disadvantaged child who may never have anything new, rather than giving them your child's seconds each year?

Can't we just spoil them" is the attitude causing massive issues with overconsumption, waste and using up resources. Yes its OK to spoil kids from time to time, but I would wager its not from time to time is it?

Not to mention that if it's tradition and regular and expected, it's not even spoiling them anymore . It's something that just happens.

@Fudgein

I buy new every year, as does everyone I know. However I do always give any items still in good condition to the school & they distribute them to families who need them. I do the same with uniform & mostly it's all in good condition as my DD seems to grow at lightening speed. Although I generally only buy 2 new school outfits as, like previous posters mentioned, I will be buying more at christmas time when my DD will no doubt have grown again.

Um. Why not donate the new items to the school, if there's nothing wrong with your kids bag/pencil case etc?

Um. Why not donate the new items to the school, if there's nothing wrong with your kids bag/pencil case etc?
Yes, I'm sure disadvantaged children would love something new too, particularly if it is as you say and the majority are getting new each year. That would put a lot of pressure on struggling parents and make their children feel left out. If you enjoy back to school shopping and can afford it you could shop to donate instead, maybe replace your child's bag less often and donate a new bag in the years in between.

@Fudgein I don't get it!!??...if an item is in good condition then please enlighten me? Why is it good enough to be donated but not good enough to use for longer? How sad!

Ours (smiggle bought last summer) look barely used.

There was a whole term when they weren't used.

Luckily my DC don't have any notion of needing new for the new school year.

Primary school though so just hang on pegs all day anyway.

Secondary I'll probably be more inclined to get them new.

I went to a Kindergarten to Sixth Form private school and the school bag was part of the uniform. Nobody was ever bothered about new bags every school year as you couldn't tell the difference between new bags and old ones.

In Primary you had a book bag with the school logo and a plain black drawstring bag for PE kit. The book bags usually lasted your entire primary years. The PE bags generally needed replacing every couple of years (as they would get worn out from kids dragging them along the floor) but they only cost about £5 and most people just replaced them as they wore out. Some kids got new ones every year but not many.

When I started in Kindergarten, secondary students had to use a briefcase but by the time I got to Yr7 they had allowed students to carry backpacks - a lot of students cycled or had long walks to school so briefcases weren't practical - but it had to be the school issued ones which came in two styles - one smaller one and one larger one. PE bags were the same - it had to be a plain black holdall or one with the school logo.

Everyone got a backpack in Yr 7 and pretty much everyone kept the same bag till Yr 11. The only time people tended to get new bags is if their bag was worn out or got damaged which rarely happened unless kids were seriously rough as they were a good quality and heavy duty design.

Instead of getting new bags evey year, kids would buy new keyrings and accessories to hang off the bag zippers to identify their bag (since they were all identical) which was still wasteful but replacing a plastic toy with a fluffy pompom is a lot less wasteful than replacing a whole bag.

So for me, this isn't about deciding whether or not to bother making an effort for the environment but to decide where you are going to make that effort.

So it turns out that, for my youngest, a new bag and (in his case) a new coat for the start of his first proper school term in P1 was really important. I only found that out today (we're in Scotland, so term starts today). When I suggested that he could just wear the mac he'd worn to nursery as recently as last week, he bawled his eyes out. "That can't possibly happen, mum." (Apparently.) "Because that was a "nursery" mac and now I'm a schoolboy." Okaaaaay.

So it seems to me that rite-of-passage shit, like new bags and lunchboxes, may be really psychologically important to (some) kids......makes sense I guess, as kids live in an environment where their sense of self-worth is coloured by whether authority figures think they have been "good enough", so even wanting a different bag for your new teacher between P1 and P2 seems like maybe them wanting a "fresh start"?? And I make a zillion mistakes in my life every day, and feel constantly guilty, so I'm all about understanding the concept of "A Fresh Start" ;-)

So in that case, because the threat to our planet is terrifying and real, I'm going to cut back on some item of clothing that I may have otherwise got for myself (because it's fashionable, or because I think I need a new pair of trainers, or even because it really does have holes in it and need to be replaced) so that he can have this rite-of-passage thing that obviously means so much to him. And then next time, when he asks me for a piece of plastic tat in the toyshop, which he doesn't need, but actually I do really need a new pair of trainers cos the oldies have holes in, I'll refuse his request, and "save" the environmental waste there, whilst adding it to my moral account :-)

I will buy my kids new items for starting school,because the existing items are tatty, & knackered. On the basis of expected wear and tear they need replaced and I will replace them. The wear and tear arises from near daily use, being carried,dropped,piled and transported. For those who fear my children are too exuberant in behaviour and ungrateful for a supermarket lunch bag, fear not. Their exuberance and behaviour is entirely age appropriate and it’s what kids do. They run,jump,chase,pull at zips and hoik items on/off public transport and the said items deteriorate. Near daily use and the bags and water bottles go to summer club too. Then in August I replace the items. After 45 weeks use, yes I replace items with no compunction.

@EspressoDoubleShot

I will buy my kids new items for starting school,because the existing items are tatty, & knackered. On the basis of expected wear and tear they need replaced and I will replace them. The wear and tear arises from near daily use, being carried,dropped,piled and transported. For those who fear my children are too exuberant in behaviour and ungrateful for a supermarket lunch bag, fear not. Their exuberance and behaviour is entirely age appropriate and it’s what kids do. They run,jump,chase,pull at zips and hoik items on/off public transport and the said items deteriorate. Near daily use and the bags and water bottles go to summer club too. Then in August I replace the items. After 45 weeks use, yes I replace items with no compunction.

It might be normal/age appropriate to you but obviously judging by this thread it isn’t for lots.

Yes they open the zips and take the bag to school and back but I think by a certain age (6/7) a child can be taught to look after their belongings by treating them carefully, while still being ‘exuberant’ at playtime.

As I’ve already said, I’m not bothered if people just say ‘I want to buy new pretty stuff every year’ but why justify it by insisting every year the child’s things are trashed beyond any further use?

‘Exuberant’ sounds like code from a school report…

I had a new one of each every year.
By the time I got to secondary school my bags never lasted a year with the weight of the books we had to carry!

DC1 has just finished Y11 with the Eastpak backpack bought for the start of Y7. They walk to and from school each day and although the bag has been washed a few times and was repaired by Eastpak, it's still going strong and won't be replaced for the start of Y12. DC2 chose an Eastpak backpack when they started Y7 last year. The reason their primary bag wasn't used instead was because the secondary school specify that it must be a plain backpack so the previous one (used for 4+ years) wouldn't have been acceptable.

The Eastpak bags weren't cheap to begin with and I do realise that being in a position to buy a robust £50 backpack isn't something everyone can do. My DC know I'll always replace school items that have worn out or been outgrown but that's on a need basis, not because it's September.

there are some laugh out loud virtue signalling and conspicuous giving to the poor going on in this thread., which I do not believe. So all this redistribute the money you could spend on new items and give the poor, are you actually doing this? The money you could spend on new coat and winter boots, do you actually think, I’ll make and do with my current items and give then monies you could have spent to the poor family at school?
Do you regularly redivert your potential spends to the poor. Giving them the new items and you retain your current item?

Or are you making a virtue signalling point to bluster your way through an online spat…

Well, I don’t buy new shit all the time (perhaps DD is less ‘exuberant’ than some ) and haemorrhage money to charity on a regular basis, so…

Not sure what your argument is, really, other than you’ve picked up the phrase ‘virtue signalling’ from some right-wing frothpit and you think it’s clever. Go on, call us ‘snowflakes’ next. Tell us we’re ‘triggered’.

@EspressoDoubleShot

there are some laugh out loud virtue signalling and conspicuous giving to the poor going on in this thread., which I do not believe. So all this redistribute the money you could spend on new items and give the poor, are you actually doing this? The money you could spend on new coat and winter boots, do you actually think, I’ll make and do with my current items and give then monies you could have spent to the poor family at school? Do you regularly redivert your potential spends to the poor. Giving them the new items and you retain your current item?

Or are you making a virtue signalling point to bluster your way through an online spat…

It's the faux "oh I give to the needy"l, aren't I wonderful' attitude that is wrong imo.

It's one thing if (say) the PPs kid had grown out of Barbie, and at the end of the year then wanted to donate her perfectly good bag, and get new one.
But it's another thing to just buy a new bag regardless of need. It feeds into consumerism and cult of the new.

And FWIW, yes i do buy new items, I get things like cots/baby clothes/bottles etc and give them to the Baby Bank.
Yes, I do give used items to charity shops etc, however, it's because the kiddo has grown out of it, not because I think we'll, he's worn that t-shirt 5 times, and it's now August, so I'll buy him new just because.

@EspressoDoubleShot

there are some laugh out loud virtue signalling and conspicuous giving to the poor going on in this thread., which I do not believe. So all this redistribute the money you could spend on new items and give the poor, are you actually doing this? The money you could spend on new coat and winter boots, do you actually think, I’ll make and do with my current items and give then monies you could have spent to the poor family at school? Do you regularly redivert your potential spends to the poor. Giving them the new items and you retain your current item?

Or are you making a virtue signalling point to bluster your way through an online spat…

Well… if something is in decent enough condition to give to charity, it’s in decent enough condition for me and my children to continue using. If it’s not in good enough condition for me and my kids, I will of course buy them new but I wouldn’t then give something old and unusable to ‘the poor’.

DD had the same school bag from year 2 until the end of year 6 (a Kipling one). It's still in almost perfect condition. I've bought her a new bag for year 7 as the Kipling one is a bit babyish for secondary. (I'll sell the old one on eBay though as it will do someone else another few years easily).
The new bag is a good, solid bag (Dakine) in a plain design that I hope will last her at least until the end of year 11.