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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To complain to the school for allowing dd(8) to do games outside wearing shorts yesterday?

59 replies

ChopsTheDuck · 07/01/2009 11:08

I'm was fuming when she told me, and I jsut can't get it out of my head, and debating about calling the school or popping in later.

She forgot her PE kit. I packed it all ready for her, she left it in her room, and although I did realise she had forgotten it when I dropped her, it was first day back at school and I had so many things to catch up on, I really didn't have time to make another trip up there to drop it.

I assumed if she did have games, she'd have to sit it out. She came home and told me she was asked to hunt for some trousers or shorts in a pile and ended up going outside in sub zero temperatures in shorts. I can't believe they let her go out like that, and she is now complaining of a sore throat.

Am I being precious and overeacting or not?

OP posts:

Lauriefairyonthetreeeatscake · 07/01/2009 11:10

you don't get a sore throat from being out in the cold

would she normally have been wearing a tracksuit then?

cory · 07/01/2009 11:13

Personally I don't approve of bare legs in winter- I come from Sweden where we taught to dress properly. Having said that, there are still schools where the school uniform consists of shorts or a skirt for girls, so I think it would be hard for you to complain that her health was damaged by running around in shorts for an hour.

Unlikely to have caused her sore throat in any case.

Original poster

ChopsTheDuck · 07/01/2009 11:14

yes.

It's debatable as to whether being cold can contribute to illness too. Cold conditions may stop the body from beign able to fight dormant bugs.

OP posts:

Kbear · 07/01/2009 11:14

Over reacting! Yes it is bitterly cold but kids don't feel it the way us oldies do, they are outside for under an hour probably, and running around so she was probably fine, it's not ideal, but fine. And probably it didn't cause the sort throat either, that'll be a germ!

Kbear · 07/01/2009 11:15

I don't like bare legs in winter for the kids either but she'll remember her PE kit next time, sounds harsh doesn't it - eeek, but life is full of valuable lessons lol!!

Original poster

ChopsTheDuck · 07/01/2009 11:15

normal winter weather and I wouldn't have minded so much, but it is really cold out, and the rule is tshirt in the colour of the house, and shorts or tracksuit bottoms. So she was out in shorts and tshirt. She told me she was frozen, it jsut seems wrong.

OP posts:

MadameCastafiore · 07/01/2009 11:16

Think this should be a lesson learned for her - be more organised and don't forget your PE kit.

My DD is 8.5 and if she came home and siad this to me I would just say - 'Well you had better make sure you don;t forget your PE kit again!' - You are nicer than me I made my DD pack it herself yesterdau morning too - if she had forgotten her track pants she would have been doing it out in the cold in shorts.

You don't get a sore throat from playing outside for an hour in shorts!

Original poster

ChopsTheDuck · 07/01/2009 11:16

yep kbear - she remembered it today!

OP posts:

juuule · 07/01/2009 11:17

If mine are anything to go by, kids don't feel the cold only if they are doing something they really want to do.
Otherwise, they moan and moan about being cold.

abraid · 07/01/2009 11:17

Cold weather affects the way the lining of the throat and nose work to counter viruses, so theoretically cold can make it more likely you'll catch something (which is why scarves over noses are a good idea). But bare knees wouldn't affect this. And it wouldn't happen this quickly.

Original poster

ChopsTheDuck · 07/01/2009 11:18

mm, she doesnt like games at all. Which is part the reason I worried, because she probably stood still as much as possible and just shivered!

OP posts:

unavailable · 07/01/2009 11:20

I know this will make me sound like a "it never did me any harm" grumpy old git, but I do remember doing cross country in sub zero temperatures in a pe skirt when I was at school. I hated it, but it wasnt harmful, and I dont think I would have hated it less if I had a track suit.

KingCanuteIAm · 07/01/2009 11:20

Ours don't have trousers at all until they are 10/11 and the high school don't have them until year 10. I am fairly sure a lot of schools are like this. I agree it is barbaric and I see no point to it myself but they do survive it, being cold actually kills bugs off, they breed when warm and die or stagnate when (very) cold. Winter is natures way of killing off various bugs.

seeker · 07/01/2009 11:23

People pay good money so that their children can go to school in shorts in midwinter!

MrsGokWan · 07/01/2009 11:23

I am afraid I agree with the others, lesson learnt, she won't forget it again in a hurry.

The sore throat would have been caught by sitting around in stuffy, centrally heated classrooms, a bugs wonderland.

KingCanuteIAm · 07/01/2009 11:24

Scsarves over noses are a BAD idea! It is a very old fashioned idea to do that! The bugs in the air on a very cold day do not survive but the bugs in your body do as it is warmer there. Putting a scarf over your mouth causes you to breath in more and more of the virus that you already have meaning your body has more to deal with! Breathing in cold clear air is actually a good way to help see of bugs in your upper airways! This i why you should not keep someone with a simple cold housebound and overly warm!

idobelieveinfairies · 07/01/2009 11:25

My 7 yr old had outside pe yesterday but for the last year they have asked for the children to come to school on certain days with their pe kits on, they need their normal shorts and t-shirt with tracksuit over the top, it works well.

I wouldn't have been best please either if mine were out in just shorts.

idobelieveinfairies · 07/01/2009 11:26

How bothered was your DD by it chops?? if she was complaining about how cold it was and how it made her feel then i would have to say something.

Original poster

ChopsTheDuck · 07/01/2009 11:32

she was pretty miserable when I picked her up - it was the first thing she told me.

I think though, after the responses here, I am likely to get anywhere with the school. I don't think she should be outside in shorts personally and next time she forgets it I will run it up myself. Hoepfully she will have learned her lesson but she is so scatty I'm sure it will happen again sooner or later!

OP posts:

Original poster

ChopsTheDuck · 07/01/2009 11:33

unlikely !

OP posts:

abraid · 07/01/2009 11:43

But if you didn't have a virus to start with, you wouldn't be breathing it in, would you? I was talking about keeping your airways warm and moist to protect you from other people's viruses.

digbies · 07/01/2009 11:52

What sort of thing was she doing, chops? And presumably all the childre would be pretty cold, as they were all in t-shirts? I find that when I run in winter I can be warm if I wear the right top, but I always run in shorts and this seems to make no difference to how warm or cold I feel.

Moondancer · 07/01/2009 11:55

I dont think YABU. Why do schools persist in forcing children to do PE in the freezing cold? Can they not do pe indoors on days like yesterday. It was for this reason that I developed a hatred of pe myself. I remember us being forced to do hockey when it was so cold that my legs used to go purple and sore. Barbaric it was.

happywomble · 07/01/2009 11:58

I remember the joy of running round the netball courts in a pe skirt at school..good character building stuff!

I think your DD would be fine as long as the children are running around outside and not standing still...more important to have a sweatshirt on the top half I would have thought.

Original poster

ChopsTheDuck · 07/01/2009 12:00

im not actually sure, digbies, usually it's team games - football or netball. Will ask her later.

md, me too! I was never keen on sports at school, in fact I thought I hated exercise full stop until I discovered nice air conditioned gyms as an adult!

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