To wonder why teenagers won't wear coats

[littlefifi]

Minus figures this week and yet my 12 year old ds refuses to wear a coat or jumper because apparently other kids pick on kids who wear them? Is this a thing? Is being cold a cause for bullying now? He only started high school in September so I'm still learning the rules.

He wears a blazer but only a thin cotton shirt goes underneath. In full embarrassing mum fashion I can't stand to think of him walking to school in only that and being cold but I'm obviously not going to insist either, it's up to him.

Who would have thought coats were for the weak?

I agree!

I blame the schools - one of my local secondaries won't let the kids were a coat on the school site at all - they can only wear the shitty poly blazer which isn't warm at all.

We used to be able to spot the kids from the housing estate right up the top of a massive hill on the edge of farmland because whilst we all had a jumper and occasionally a soggy blazer for our 20 minute walks home in sleet, snow, pissing rain and hurricanes, they were the kids with a proper, warm jacket, fluffy hats, scarves, gloves, moon boots, legwarmers, the lot.

They weren't messing around - we just had chilblains for our troubles, they would have been at genuine risk of hypothermia, especially as they could end up waiting from 6.45am to 8.50am for a bus with standing space or the services not turning up at all because it was too icy for them to drive the extra two miles uphill.

They never had the piss taken out of them like we would have done - because they were the hard kids in the first place because of where they came from and they didn't give a fuck.

After fifteen years living up that hill as an adult, I moved back down into the town centre. I was shovelling snow off my front path a month later in jeans and a t-shirt because it just didn't feel that cold to me without howling gales coming straight off the North Sea with nothing between there and that hill to take the edge off.

@ShowOfHands I am really curious why such strict rules re not being allowed to wear coats in/ around school. Even in covid when doors and windows were open in the depths of winter- no coats permitted inside. Why is this? I genuinely do not understand!

‘‘Twas ever so…
I remember almost 50 years ago coats were uncool!
At my daughters school a parent complained that her child was freezing with no uniform coat , it was pointed out to her that there was indeed a uniform coat but literally not one pupil would wear one.

My 15 year old DD will only wear a coat if it’s raining. Temperature seems irrelevant. Also refuses to wear a jumper under her blazer. No to hat and scarf, oh and an umbrella but can sometimes be persuaded on gloves. 🤷‍♀️

There are a few students who have long walks that come in wearing coats at DD’s school. No one with a brief travel distance wears one.

when we go out as a family, I just insist she puts one in the car in case of emergency.

My 17 year old boy is at college and wears a coat now it is getting colder. I see most other kids wearing coats too when I pick him up.

🤣🤣

DD rarely wore a coat to Y7-11 because of the locker issue and because they weren't allowed to wear a coat between classes. She & her mates hated carrying their coats around. Similar in 6th form though, trying to convince her to wear a parka whilst it's cold and rainy outside is still a battle sometimes. She says, oh mum, don't fuss, I'll take the bus instead of walking, as if that solves the problem. I don't know why her school don't provide rows of hooks in the classroom to put coats, maybe they worry they'll go missing or something.

The other day we attempted a day out (thwarted by a demonstration) and as we waited for a bus DD said, I'm actually cold. 💀She had a t-shirt, overshirt and thin mac on. I just raised an eyebrow. Hopefully the parka gathering dust in the cupboard with be liberated soon.

When I was in secondary school (the later years, 10 and 11, maybe 9) I refused to wear a coat. Not even sure why, no one got bullied or made fun of for wearing a coat, I think I just decided I didn't need one and put up with the cold.

Now I live somewhere properly cold teenagers do wear coats but not wearing over-trousers is the mark of coolness. DD is 12 and not wearing over-trousers even when it was -19 yesterday (but she did borrow my thermal leggings for under her trousers) but she has given in to hats.
I saw some teenage boys the other day dressed all wannabe gangsta style but with big mittens, it was adorable

We only say coats off in the classroom, where we have central heating and it's hot and their coats get in the way or they're always in and out of the pockets smuggling lesson-disrupting contraband. They can wear them at all other times ie between classes, outside, at lunch. We also have lockers so they can put them in there out of the way when not in use.

We are pretty fair I think.

Primary school ones at school too.
The amount of kids that say they're not cold and refuse coats and sometimes jumpers is crazy.

I work in a school if that wasn't clear

I have a distinct memory of it snowing before a school trip where we had to walk about half a mile to the tube. Me and my best friend were stood waiting for the teacher, who came in wrapped up like a wee Eskimo. She chastised us for not wearing coats and we cast around to observe that no one was wearing a coat, out of a group of about 40 girls. We did have jumpers on under our blazers, that was our one concession and not everyone did, so we thought ourselves "the sensible ones". We were 16 and it was the late 90s, so it was ever thus.

If it helps we are still best friends and we wear coats now. So some kind of sensible gene did kick in.

This always makes me smile because I remember being the same but I don’t remember actually feeling the cold! Same on nights out. I was rarely ill either.
Thankfully my teen/tween both still happily wear one as I know I would hate it!

DD and her friends had a long walk and wore coats until about year 9. They survived. One of my DSes was happy to wear a waterproof over his jacket on wet days but infuriatingly it could then be relied upon to be 'borrowed' by a boy without a coat and to go missing for a week or two until it turned up in the refectory , science block or wherever.

@ShowOfHands thats really helpful re activities in the classroom. I can see now how dcs wearing coats during lessons is very disruptive. Thank you for answering! Your school policy sounds very fair.

Children are not so afraid of the cold, so they don't like to wear so many clothes.

Mine both walk 3 miles to school and they wear coats. First proper downpour saw to that. It's not trendy of course but neither is being soaking wet.

When I was at secondary school in the sixties,we had a thick gabardine waterproof coat, which had a good,and beret. During PE outside, even in the snow,it was a tiny pleated skirt and short sleeve top. I had dreadful painful chilblains on hands and feet. Since when has 11 and 12 years old been "teenage"

I left school in the mid 80's and coats were at that time acceptable, but worn open so as not to look too bulky in uniform or obscure the look of the cooler outfit underneath at weekends.

I only started doing them up in adulthood, probably in my 30's, when I got fed up with having the sides flapping around.

My DD (15) is the same but my 2 boys both wore coats when really cold

Mine won't wear a coat or even take a bag so she has everything she owns in all her blazer pockets. It's ridiculous but they all do it.

DS never once wore a coat in all his secondary school years, even in rain or snow. Their uniform was also a blazer with just the white shirt underneath. I hate the cold so don't know how he did it, but nothing I ever said made a difference! He wore a jacket outside of school alright with his normal clothes, just never with the school uniform.