Do we stop wearing coats in high school?

[TheyNicknamedHerTheBolter]

So my DS has just gone up to secondary school.

I’ve bought and returned three coats so far, non of which fit over his blazer. He’s informed me today NOBODY wears a coat, and the blazer acts as the coat. He can take it off in class but has to wear it in the corridor.

Is this typical? What do they do when it snows? Aibu to think this is mad?
or am I struggling to cut the apron strings 🤪

I’m used to bundling him off to primary mittens and a woolly hat!!

The problem is it gets in the way all day, you have to carry it around everywhere and it’s just a big bulky annoyance along with your heavy school bag.

We had the randomly allocated lockers too that weren't necessarily anywhere near your form room. It's not great but I think it's become so normalised that it's not going to change.

God it has changed! When I was in school in the 90s it was coat on back of chair (usually a fleece/sports jacket), and bag under desk. It was the day when a lot of kids wore Kappa (sp?) jackets as well 🫣

My dcs are little, and I love the wrapping them up, hoping coats will make a come back when they're that age.

Nope - no coats afterY6. It’s a law.

YANBU. My son also just started secondary, and I'm sad to hear there is NOWHERE to keep a coat, no cloakroom, no hooks at the back of the class, nothing, which is unfortunate, because when it gets cold, he would wear a coat.

I suppose it's self-reinforcing. Lots of kids think it's uncool to wear a coat, so when the school needs space, they look around, see a mostly-empty cloakroom, and it goes away for everyone.

Or, lots of kids are getting driven to school, so they don't need much outerwear, or space to keep things, so parents like me, who would rather their child walk, are now considering driving them, which again, just reinforces the whole problem.

😭

Also, I'm probably overreacting, and he'll get used to not wearing a coat and carrying a bunch of heavy stuff back and forth every day, but right now, I'm not happy.

This. Totally prohibited regardless of the weather. Umbrellas also banned. Three teens here.. No it makes absolutely no sense.....just leave them to it. They seem to manage.

I've noticed parents taxing kids around everywhere as well. Everyone used to walk with their friends when I was at school, 30 minute walk or so, others would get the bus. Being dropped off by parents would have been seen as "uncool." We made our own way everywhere in all weather conditions.

Currently in the north face coat phase as DCs secondary school, last year was no coats.

No, they don't wear coats in senior school, even in rain or snow and even when they walk to school. Adolescents don't feel the cold!

As a secondary school teacher for 30 years, girls wear them, and sweaters under blazers. Boys shun sweaters and coats, unless it’s seriously cold when they might add a woolly.

No coats it’s just too much to carry and too bulky over blazer

Honestly I think my kids used to live in fear of their mates finding out that they own a coat 😆

give up the fight

I still have anxiety dreams about not getting from my locker to my bus in time and missing my bus home. There was no other transport option just that one bus who wouldnt wait.

If you had p.e, home Ed and art on the same day what a faff carrying about numerous bags potentially a tupperware box of some sort of food and a massive A3 art folder sometimes A2.
The coat was not even remotely on my list no matter what time of year it was. It was just impossible to carry everything. Schools really need to re think this.

Sometimes I didn't make it to my locker in time. So hello mouldy home ed food on Monday or worse after half term !

My Yr 11 hates me when I insist they wear a coat, I presume they take it off as soon as they leave the house😂 I remember I also used to hate wearing a coat and my mother also had the same fight with me.

My boys (11 & 13) don’t usually take coats to school - the younger one has just started in year 7 and is too cool for his own good already. The older one is not one of the really cool kids and never has been (but happily in a great bunch of friends), and he will now take a coat IF it’s pouring with rain or freezing cold. The younger one has to wear shorts to school still and still rolls his socks down, he cares far too much about his image! Luckily (for him) they can’t walk to school, so they get dropped off in the school driveway and only have to pause slightly to shake hands with the headmaster as they scuttle in and then they either keep warm by playing football on the quad for the 20 mins or so until form time starts, or they can go straight inside if it’s very wet.

I remember refusing to wear a coat at big school as well, and my friend (whose mother made her wear a cagoul every wet day) was gently teased by the rest of us on the walk to school. We also could only wear our rucksacks over one shoulder for some reason and thank goodness that trend hasn’t come back yet!

We also had the trend of wearing your rucksack straps really loose. I used to hate the sensation of my bag going bash bash bash against me when I walked but didn't want to go against the trend.

I never wore a coat in high school, come rain hail or shine. My eldest wouldn’t wear a coat either. My middle child has just started year 8, he probably would wear something if it’s small enough he can chuck in the bottom of his bag. But so far he hasn’t really needed it.

Don't children have school lockers anymore? I used to get the bus to school and bundle my coat in there first thing and get it for the journey home

They do wear coats but it’s still warm at the moment.

Completely typical ime. No-one wore a coat once they got to secondary school.

DS 13, just going into yr 9, has a thin raincoat for very wet days and a puffa jacket for very cold days. No pegs, no lockers, everything has to be screwed up and stuffed in your rucksack. Otherwise it's the blazer, which is worn all day unless it's hot and teachers allow them to take them off in class.

Far too hot for a coat over a blazer at the moment anyway. Kids can layer up with vest, shirt, jumper, blazer and then scarf, hat gloves before remotely necessary for a coat! Umbrella if raining.

I’m not even wearing a blazer / jacket to walk to work yet, 5 mins walk in long sleeve shirt in the morning and more than warm enough! It’s warm in afternoons too.

Judging by the messages on our parents' WhatsApp, it's north face or nothing and the north face ones go missing all the time. Sadly for my DD, it's nothing as I don't want to pay that much for someone to steal her coat.

Mine have coats which they wear out of school but it has to be pretty arctic before they'll wear them on school days.

They do wear thin black pac-a-mac type waterproofs when the rain is biblical.

I survived y10 and y11 refusing to wear the "perfectly good" coat DM bought me in y8 that I unfortunately failed to grow out of and was therefore never replaced despite being horrifically out of date and babyish. We had more frosts and snow then and I managed not to get hypothermia. My DCs also have shorter breaks/ lunches and a modern indoor site rather than umpteen eras of sprawling blocks. I survived so see no point in arguing it because they'll survive too.

Schools can't have coats hung up in corridors due to fire safety regulations along escape routes.

My dd was like this.

Then in yr 10 she walked to school in the sleet. This was during Covid when they had all windows open and had to go outside all the time.

That night she came home and asked for a coat😁