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What societal norms do you think are outdated?

The monarchy. So many of the issues we have in the UK flow from us having a monarchy - our right to access land is limited, our right to own land is limited, we elect lazy dishonest people to power just because they have posh accents - we accept having a ruling asset owning class just because that's how things are. The only way we see to progress ourselves is to hope for a slice of the pie ourselves, but using the same structure, which is heavily weighted towards inherited wealth and status. Start dismantling that and see where we'd be. Things would look different. Then we can start considering the kind of society that works well for everyone.

Op why not just close the country down for 2/3 weeks.
2 or 3 weeks in summer, close everything, job done.
Everyone takes their holidays at the same time as the kids. Everyone on the beaches and parks, no trips abroad because the airports will be shut. No holidays in the UK because all the hotels and petrol stations will be shut.

Tough shit if you break a leg the A&E nurses and doctors are at the beach with their kids.
What do you mean you want dinner? The shops are shut, the trucks are off the road you'll be eating out the freezer.

No op it wouldn't work. Adults need to stagger their holidays which only works when kids have more time of than adults.

I would like the UK to update its Victorian ways of working into a 21st century modern society. Liberal and tolerant allowing people to be who they are and everyone to contribute to running society with a work life balance that suits their needs.
Not asking for too much. LMAO
Ban zero hour contracts in favour of minimum hour contracts and give large businessss incentives to offer job sharing roles.
Modernise the education system, so children leave with the necessary skills to find 21st century jobs.
Build more general needs housing for 30+ hour a week NMW workers.
Change the electoral system so voting is mandatory and move to PR, so every vote counts. Hopefully, this would make MPs more accountable and work for the people instead of favouring their donors.
Overhaul sentencing guidelines, including more mandatory sentences for heinous crimes and increase funding to build more prisons, if necessary

Teachers hardly do any work anyway. They only work 9-3. Easy money. They probably don't need any holidays.
Thought teaching was a vocation not a job anyway...

Teachers hardly do any work anyway. They only work 9-3. Easy money. They probably don't need any holidays.
Thought teaching was a vocation not a job anyway...

I can't figure out if you are being sarcastic or not, because sadly many posters do feel that way

I wish i got a 6 week holiday to recharge from my job. Instead those same 6 weeks involve balancing working from home with two bored kids or extortionate child care, or unpaid leave. All unbelievably stressful and far from ideal for the kids.
6 week ... well infact its more like 7 is from the dark ages and needs to go.
There isnt a recruitment crisis in teaching because of the holidays. Its lack of funding, training and low pay. A 6 week holiday wont support that, plus there are 13 weeks holiday throughout the year to allow recharge if thats whats required.

I'm reading your posts that parents should be able to take kids out of school when they feel like it.

How is a teachers meant to teach and move forward if they are always having to deal with kids being off and catching up?

Our summer school holidays are some of the shortest in the developed world. What we need is longer holidays giving more opportunity to have summer camps running with different activities for kids to try.
It would also provide summer jobs for students.

Absolutely I have a Sen child. It's so frustrating how much he is expected to do to 'fit in' and how little the school will do to adapt.

That's what I was replying to, I said nothing about school holidays

Exactly. Choose your partner wisely.

I wonder why some people have children at all - did you not realise that it would be hard work?

I'm definitely being sarcastic. I'm a teacher. I get paid to work 4 days a week but here I am on my day off working. Again. In at 7:45 most days. Leave at 5:30 to collect my kids but almost always take work home to do every evening too.
Kids being off at all different points would make it really difficult to progress their learning. They would all have gaps in learning from the weeks they missed. It would be nigh on possible to make sure everyone had covered everything and has a full understanding.

If the holidays were cut it would affect retention.
Teachers need the break.

60 hour weeks in term time. You limp to the holidays
The children need a break too.
More affordable childcare or holiday clubs is needed rather than asking teachers to work more.

What is archaic is 4 or 6 weeks holiday for full time work.

Teachers don't get paid for the holidays. 195 days of contact time per year. It would be unaffordable to pay more too

It's not just teachers who need the break,

just as important if not more, it's the kids too.

How do you propose teachers manage constant absences in their classes in terms of planning / missed work / catch up? Absolutely ridiculous to suggest children could just be taken out at any point in the school year for a period of two weeks or for smaller periods adding up to 2 weeks? It would massively add to teacher workload with kids dipping in and out throughout the school year.

OP, YANBU. I agree. Society has changed so much in the last two decades that most parents are now two working parents and there is not enough annual leave to cover the amount of holiday. Whats the point of a six week break if they are just stuck in kids clubs for the majority of the time?
I would much rather split the holidays to make the others a little longer e.g christmas.

When I was in school in the 80s and 90s, all our holidays were taken during term time during infant and junior school and I never had to 'catch up'. The same way I never had homework. Another outdated tool that disadvantages children who again have two working parents or feckless ones that have no desire to help their children with the extra work.

Child dropped at breakfast club at 8, school 9-3, after school clubs/childminder, home for 6, dinner and then MORE school work? Why?

Whats the point of a six week break if they are just stuck in kids clubs for the majority of the time?

it means we need better holiday clubs or camps, not that the better alternative is staying in school instead of doing fun things. Kids need a break, we all do.

Child dropped at breakfast club at 8, school 9-3, after school clubs/childminder, home for 6, dinner and then MORE school work? Why?
why indeed. Maybe parents should consider these things before having children for a start.

Thats a bollocks argument.....

I agree. There seems to be a lot of effort to keep traditions but with new ones coming in all the time so we end up with multiple rituals or norms for events. But as a parent it's hard to not do it, i have 3 kids and different things are important to them at Christmas, Halloween etc.

Thats a bollocks argument.....

the race to the bottom never benefits anyone.

You can't seriously expect the education system to be changed to fit a few lazy parents, or the fake naive ones who did not know kids didn't spend 52 weeks a year at school.

Christmas should be phased out.
People have been brainwashed for years.

Fairyliz · Today 06:16

One answer is to simplify your life; do we really need to do so much stuff if it is causing so much stress?

Totally!

God, as an older person I'm horrified at the incredibly hyping of almost everything over the past 20 years - must be social media pressure, surely?

Kids' birthday parties (even 1st birthdays), weddings, hen parties, going away for the weekend so men can propose (!!!???), festivals such as Halloween and Christmas - the insane pressure to make them Hollywood productions. People almost bankrupt themselves to make a huge fuss of all these occasions. It has to be for Insta - that's the only reason I can think of, and it's not really good news except for business, I suppose.

Bonkers!

No, its the same argument of 'Why have kids if you cant afford them.'

Why is it such a triggering response to ask if the school system needs to be changed to fit in with todays working family set up? Who does the current system actually benefit? Not even teachers apparently given theres such a recruitment issue.

I would bring back some form of censorship, not of free speech but of things that go against the public good. The constant advertising of products is literally designed to make us feel worse about ourselves, advertisers pay psychologists to make us feel inadequate so of course there is an increase in MH issues linked to this. Now children are being targeted directly and surprise surprise there seems to be a huge increase in MH issues among children. Children and teens have access to violent pornography 24/7 and there will IMO be a massive increase in violence against women in the next 20 years as a whole generation will be brainwashed. Not an easy solution but I would ban targeted advertising, ban all advertising to devices registered to under 18s, reduce advertising to very minimal level (which would require more subscriptions) and literally ban violent porn or porn debasing women in all forms with some 'mainstream' porn available on subscription. I know this goes against Western capitalism but honestly I think it would build a better society.

The sad truth is, EVERYTHING is about advertising these days. News sites print goady headlines to ensure you click on the link because it generates more advertising revenue. Outrage pays.

I don't disagree the school system should be changed, it should become properly funded for a start.

It should benefit the kids and families in general, not be based around a "working family" because it's not in the children best interest at all.

Producing nice little robots who have to be grateful for their measly 4 weeks off a year is the opposite of progress and will benefit no one, apart from the parents who don't want to know they have children.

So you are asking for every child to have an individual curriculum that suits their interests/learning styles/ability etc.?

When would the teachers get the time to prepare 30 or so bespoke teaching plans that cover the whole year, which they would have to do every year because it is different children every year? Then they’ve got to deliver each lesson in 30 different ways and give individual attention to each child.
I think you are thinking of private tutoring!