AIBU to make school tie into a clip-on?

[FrenchBunionSoup]

DS aged 7 has to wear a tie from September as part of the uniform. I'm not a massive fan of ties at that age (or in general) but it is part of the uniform.

I've seen some videos about how to turn a tie into a clip-on and it looks pretty doable. I'm very good at crafting so confident I could do it well. A clip-on would save us time in the morning and also seems an improvement in terms of comfort and safety. I will just put him on a regular tie if I need to but I'd definitely prefer clip on if it is an option.

WIBU to do this if it looked the same when clipped on? I'd be using a branded school tie so it should look the same.

Would I need to check it with the school first? I've thought about contacting them but I'm not sure if they'll understand what I mean and might just say that the uniform provider doesn't sell clip ons.

I seem to remember that my two never actually untied theirs after the initial knotting. They just loosened / tightened it round their necks as needed.

Ties are a ridiculous item for any child to have to wear. No idea why we're so keen on them. I've taught in schools with a slight obsession about number of stripes showing on the wretched tie,as if that'll make the day go better.

Anyway,OP, put it on a clip if that makes life easier. The school should have better priorities than DS's tie.

Any ties are a ridiculous item of clothing when you think about it, you’re right there. I suppose it’s our age’s equivalent to the Tudor ruff or the Georgian wig! But there’s not a lot the average person can do about it being either part of formal work wear in Britain, or part of school uniform.

That's another really helpful and interesting idea.

I'll look into that and maybe go for that or the velcro.

I wouldn't do it if DS didn't want me to but he loves a shortcut and I will check with him before I get crafty

Me too, I practised in the holidays before.

Some of the boys in my daughter’s primary turned them in to Velcro ones. My daughter used to just keep hers tied and then just loosen to slip off

My mum made an elastic insert for my tie when I was in primary school and it helped me enormously for PE!

I'm pretty traditional in my attitudes in many things but honestly - why do they STILL make primary school children wear ties? It's ridiculous. When they're older, OK, boys need to get used to them, but at that age??

I just don't like ties, period. I think men look so much better with a clean, crisp shirt open at the neck. A tight collar pulled in by a tie on a fat neck with a hot, red face above it is not a good look. Gentlemen - burn your ties!

Why would you need to, if the tie is part of the uniform just take it as it comes, my sons school had ties from day one, on elastic for reception and year one then they learnt how to tie them, it’s not a big deal, why make him different from everyone else.

With a clip on he will find it harder to undo the top couple of buttons and so look cool like his friends.

DS1 (and probably 2 will as well) just leaves it tied up and loosens it to put it on and off on and off. but yes, putting it on a clip is safer anyway - my dad worked on the shop floor (as in workshop floor) and had to wear clip-on ties.

He's dyspraxic, and cannot for the life of him figure out knots - so on the odd occasion it's come undone, he's actually begged help from one of the other boys and they've sorted it for him (I will not hear anything about teenage boys - at least the ones at DS's school - they're generally a pretty alright bunch in my experience)

reading back through the comments, I truly am disheartened by all the people saying 'why single him out' or 'he will be teased if he's different' - aren't we supposed to be working on that - supporting harmless non-conformity, telling our kids not to tease people if they're different?

At the secondary school all three of my children attended/attend the ties are clip on, and have been for years. It's for safety. Unfortunately it does mean they lose them at an alarming rate per term 🙄 I've lost count of the amount of times I've had to send one of them to the school office, with £5 for a new one. The students also play a prank on each other CONSTANTLY called 'Tie-Jack', where one of them grabs another ones tie, yanks it off, and runs away. All of my friends with children the same age at different schools, report that their kids ties are clip on too.

DS wears a normal tie for school (he’s just coming to the end of Year 2). I agree that ties are ridiculous but, from what I’ve seen, almost all boys (and some girls) have them tied rather than clips/elastic. Not that I think it matters hugely. I still do DS’ tie in the morning and it only takes me about 20 seconds so it’s not too much of a pain. He also doesn’t tend to take it off during the day and they wear PE kits on PE days so rarely needs to take it on or off.

When I was at school, the pupils at my school had to wear ties from age 4. My mum showed me how to loosen it enough to slip it over my head for PE and then how to tighten it back up without relying it. By the end of infants everyone could tie a tie. It's tricky, but perfectly learnable.

YABU.

His uniform is a proper tie. Not a clip on tie.

It's a life skill, albeit a very minor one, and worth acquiring, however silly it may be to make primary school children wear them. Many, many professions do expect men to wear ties. As others have said, just tie it and show him how to loosen and tighten it to take it off and on.

If you tie it on yourself and then put it on him, he can slip it on and off all week without undoing it, and then you can do it fresh the following week.

I would just get a regular tie and tie it for him, it doesn't even take a minute. He can learn how to loosen/tighten it if he needs to get changed for PE. Then he can gradually start to learn to undo it, and eventually tie it himself.

My son wears a tie, he's only in year 1 but he genuinely seems to enjoy looking smart in his tie! Our school does sell elasticated and clip on though, but I imagine the clip ons get lost easily and the elasticated ones always look like the kids have been playing with them and they get too loose.

Why would you?
A couple of practices during the summer holidays and he’ll be doing it himself in seconds. My kids both started school at age 5 tying their own ties