Archaic societal norms that need to change

[Autiebibliophile]

For me it's the 6 week holidays. It worked well in a time where the majority of families were one income families. Where village communities were much more present. Grandparents typically lived close by and could help with childcare. When we had typical seasons before global warming kicked in.

I grew up in the eighties, summers were playing out all day. If my mum needed to go somewhere I went to my grandparents or a friends house. It was simple. Now it's just 6 weeks of childcare hell. Spending a fortune on childcare, expensive holidays, activities. It costs a fortune and I'm not convinced children get much out of the break anymore.

I think it needs cutting down to three weeks, And give parents two weeks they can use at their choosing (at certain time periods in the year)

What societal norms do you think are outdated?

In my school district up until about 7/8 years ago parents could take their children out of school for up to 10 days without consequence providing attendance was above a certain number. It was commonly done and didn't cause any major problems for the schools.

I taught in Scotland where there weren't penalties for taking children out of school in term time. I think that's still the case.

It wasn't all that commonly done, as most people took their children away within the six week school holidays.

Your suggestion would lead to far more disruption.

You still haven’t answered the question about school staff and how it would work for them.

clearly you’ve made your mind up and those of us who know the sector are telling you it won’t work, yet you are refusing to listen because it doesn’t fit want you want.

they learn different skills, meet different people, do things that school and parents may not be able to do. it widens their horizons.

Women working full time or nearly full time but still doing everything to do with their children which involves thinking ahead and remembering, eg school comms, buying new clothing and shoes, vaccinations, buying gifts and cards for friends’ birthday parties, organising everything for and whatsapping thank you messages after their own kids’ birthday parties, haircuts, meal planning for multiple preferences, homework organisation, play dates, extracurricular, PE kit washing and replacing lost items, etc. etc.

^^This

You can still leave school at 16 and do an apprenticeship- lots still do this. The problem is you need to apply for 6th forms or colleges in December /January of year 11, but most companies offering apprenticeships just recruit one or two months before they want people to start, so when students are making a choice about the next year, they have to take a risk of apprenticeships being available (unless they know someone at a company who will definitely take them or go to a massive company like Ford or BAE who do recruit nearly a year in advance)

@Skyblue92 it wouldn't benefit school staff unless schools were sufficiently funded to cover staff absence which they are not

They can actually do this. 2 of my sons friends are doing paid apprentiships instead of A levels. Both in very interesting areas.

I think we need to just expand what's already there and support employers to take them on.

One of the reasons why I would keep the six week school holidays is that if they were much shorter, and no doubt all the same weeks, either the price would go up greatly (even more) given compressed demand into a shorter period, or some UK holiday providers would close for less business. Another is that you can imagine the arguments over holiday allocation at work.

As for the person mentioning GCSEs, the minimum I would do is reduce the number you can take.

That's not a society problem that is a partner problem

Scottish school holidays are late June to mid August. It works well

Yes June and July are often the nicest months weatherwise and August a disappointment. My dc have spent many sweltering days in the classroom and many days in the holidays watching it rain

So it wouldn’t work then would it.
unless you are expecting school staff to and their families to suffer and be even more restricted to when the can go away (which would be even more expensive than it is now)
Teachers to spend even more of their little contact time catching up missing GCSE work which would include coursework for some subjects, entire units for others.

I think the whole way we think, and operate as a society needs an overhaul.

I think the mental load needs to be equally shared.

I think the mental and physical load should be shared. Women's careers shouldn't be on the back burner while they work their lives around kids and husbands. Right now I need to return to work, but can't find a decent job I'm qualified for to fit, so it's menial work at half the hourly pay rate instead. DH's career is flying. Each school hours position has 300 mothers fighting over it. And we're regional!

Funding is part of it, but so also is actually getting people to fill the jobs. The labour market in the UK is tight, and jobs in schools have the disadvantage of being inflexible. They have to be done at set times in set locations, which is a disadvantage in 2023. If you want to significantly change staff terms and conditions in a whole sector, you need to have a plan for who's actually going be in those roles.

That said, you're not the only one who hasn't factored that into their suggestions. Sunday opening hours is another example.

Cut the summer holidays down even further and you won't have any school staff left. It's about the only perk left in teaching, and those further up the chain simply will burn out with yet more work to cram into an even shorter time.

To answer your question:

• The way we build roads and estates in this country - too little parking, too narrow, and in almost all cases without the opportunity to increase the uptake of cycling by building suitable paths for cyclists.

• The way we build houses. Concrete slab after concrete slab in a concrete estate. In other parts of the world, greenery is deliberately built into estates and houses themselves (including vertical gardens), and in yet others, it is encouraged that all houses have ways of generating renewable energy, e.g. through solar panels.

• Bureaucracy which cut be massively cut down on by single, common data bases and the use of AI. Why is it that different branches of government agencies still need me to regurgitate, and prove, the same information?

• That computing is still not a core subject in schools. We're living in a world which is only becoming more reliant on programming and the effective use of AI, why are we not working ahead now with our young people to make the most of it?

• The way the sciences are viewed and treated in this country. At some point several decades back there was a switch in thinking that scientists are generally uncool nerds. The sciences need more funding and the uptake of Science in education settings (triple in schools, then as pure degrees at university) is dreadful. We're losing our decent scientists to the many research facilities abroad in countries where science is respected.

• Our taps. Why the hell do so many places still have a single hot and a single cold water tap? Mixer taps all the way!

The "man with a big job" and SAHM model is archaic and perpetuates inequality. For as long as some men have a SAHM who picks up all the slack at home, they will continue to discriminate against parents (women) who have to leave work at 5pm yo collect children

I'd prefer both parents working sensible hours and doing school runs etc

Wrong! Gravy elevates everything it touches, particularly a roast 👌

I'd love it if all the clothes and toys for babies and children just stopped being so obviously aimed at either sex. I hate that.

Also the Miss Mrs thing, archaic, I wish women would stop changing their name too

Id go with electoral reform.

I think the holiday childcare problem could be solved by increasing childcare availability and subsidising it. I do actually think we need to look at how childcare from birth to 12 tesselates and works with education..

I think childcare is a rest because it's not education. It different covering a curriculum where you learn new knowledge and skills at a pace across a broad and balanced curriculumn which might include subjects you find hard, compared to what most childcare is which is gentle fun on either one area of interest like a sport, or dance or forest, or a general one with a range of loe demand activities like colouring and board games. I used to do morning childcare and children could just sit and look at a book in a comfy area.

@Doingmybest12 agree. The school system does little to encourage the enormous variation in learning styles and abilities. It leaves many children floundering, especially if ND or with additional needs.

Re the secondary school timings.
What about the staff there who have children of their own.
Most childcare closes 530/6pm.....
Absolutely unworkable

We need PR.
Abolish the House Of Fucking Lords.
The entire Legal system needs overhaul, it is a closed shop run by the lawyers.
Tax system needs massive simplification
Proper enforcement of child maintenance
Proper funding for education, health, Police

This, also a lot of secondary school students collect siblings from primary schools so what then?

I thought you meant 6 weeks annual leave was archaic and needed to change. That I agree with, who decided we should work 46 weeks and only get 6 off? The kids don't need less holidays, the adults need more. It's why I went self employed as a lone parent, I work full time in term time and reduce my hours/take leave in the school holidays.

@Fairyliz - I couldn’t agree more re: Halloween. I grew up in 80s / 90s and we would carve a pumpkin from Sainsburys and maybe watch Hocus Pocus / Ghostbusters.

I have young children and I feel pressured to take them to these stupid “PYO” pumpkin patches. Expensive, boring and definitely not pick you own. Just a bunch of pumpkins dumped in a field.

No special food parties happen here. And we don’t trick or treat so maybe I’m a bit of a misery.

ANYWAY - thanks, in part, to her new Asda range - I have recently become aware of the Stacey Solomon Halloween bullshittery.
She seems like a nice enough person, this isn’t personal - it’s just that she hand makes a thousand Halloween decorations and food stuffs and posts them all over SM. It looks fucking exhausting.

I don’t know how she or anybody else in the world has the time to make hot dog sausages look like severed fingers. Have a day off.

The main one is men being shit and women colluding with them being shit.