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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think it is far too cold to have children going to school with bare legs?

135 replies

MollyRoger · 10/01/2010 16:04

I have noticed 3 or 4 children (boys and girls) at ds's primary school with bare legs this week.
I have been through the stages of children demanding to wear superman outfits at nativity plays and wearing wellies in heatwaves in August, so i know sometimes you have to pick your battles but, FFS!
Last week, it was minus 7 and 8, and these children were wearing tiny pinafore dresses, and bare legs and wellies. The snow was actually deeper than any children's wellies.
2 boys had shorts on. We walk a mile home and my ds was complaining his legs (which had thermals under his trousers) were cold so god knows how these children were feeling.
Just

OP posts:
MitchyInge · 10/01/2010 16:15

used to be the norm for young boys to wear shorts all year round didn't it, must have been pretty hellish though

abra1d · 10/01/2010 16:17

My son's school wears shorts the year round (for year sixes and under) but they put on tracksuit bottoms at breaktime. most of them travel by bus or car to school, so I'm not too worried.

brettgirl2 · 10/01/2010 16:18

Many kids used to have no shoes. YABU we need to toughen up a bit I think.

sweetkitty · 10/01/2010 16:20

We are in Scotland and it had been barely getting up to -2 or 3 in the daytime this week, there is always this one wee girl at DD1s school who has bare legs, must be freezing, have noticed now that she has a winter jacket on though.

They haven't been out in playground since before Christmas as it's snow covered.

diddl · 10/01/2010 16:20

Yes it did-although they perhaps lived pretty close to school?
OP, when you say "bare legs" do you mean knee socks?

If so, perhaps that´s the uniform & they can´t be bothered to have extra things to change into/out of?

Mine would often prefer to be cold on the way there & back tbh.

Morloth · 10/01/2010 16:20

Boy's winter uniform is knickerbockers (yes he does look ridiculous). The bare legs don't worry him though. I asked if his legs were cold and he said nope.

MayorNaze · 10/01/2010 16:22

i do put my foot down with things like this actually. dd1 is not allowed bare legs in winter - tights or trousers all the way here, like it or lump it.

i did have a bit of an inner cats bum face at the mum who sent her dd to school in a summer dress and ankle socks last week, but like you say Moll - choose your battles and perhaps that was not that mums battle of choice?

we so need a cats bum emoticon

Original poster
MollyRoger · 10/01/2010 16:22

no, not knee socks, just normal ankly socks!
May be they do live near, but the wellies suggest otherwise. And the childrne have been playing out at breaks and lunch.

OP posts:
Bonsoir · 10/01/2010 16:24

Madness to let anyone out with bare anything in this weather. I have put DD in a very thick cable sweater and thick tights and leather boots and a duvet coat, with a woolly beret and woolly gloves. Nearly all her class mates are similarly attired.

Original poster
MollyRoger · 10/01/2010 16:24

Brettgirl I know kids used to go bare foot, but i raher think things have moved on a little.
Perhaps they should be cleaning out a few chimneys on the way home to keep warm?

OP posts:
karen2205 · 10/01/2010 16:27

I think it's unreasonable for schools which are meant to be encouraging children to be active (and to not travel to school by car) to have school uniforms that are too cold for the kids to wear on the playground/to and from school in very cold weather. Who cares what we did 50 years ago? In 2010, material to make trousers isn't so scare we should be worried about knees being ripped/worn out.

It's tights/longjohns under trousers weather IMO!

Mshalfcut · 10/01/2010 16:28

Knickerbockers oh I live in such a different world to some on here

purpleduck · 10/01/2010 16:30

Thing is, the parents of these children always have on a good thick winter coat, boots, hat....

littleducks · 10/01/2010 16:33

Hmm, maybe they live close and do shorts and wellies instead of getting trousers all wet in snow slush on the way

I dont do it and wouldnt, dd would be horrified.....but as I change her trousers and tights and put shoes on her as she arrives at preschool with them soaked after a 5 min walk, I can see it being practical

curiositykilledhaskittens · 10/01/2010 16:38

DS' school has shorts (no trousers allowed) for the boys until Y6. It has been -7 some days and they haven't been playing outside but I honestly don't get the problem. He doesn't get cold in his big coat/jumper/scarf/hat. What will happen to a child with bare legs in cold weather?

Must be an awful mother because DS chose shorts yesterday and I didn't wrangle them off him. I think he's perfectly capable of choosing his own clothes, if he wants shorts after I have warned about the possibility of getting cold then fine, he can wear shorts. I'm more worried about the mum I saw hitting her DD getting off the bus one day than the little ones wearing shorts. It's stupid and old fashioned but not damaging.

Morloth · 10/01/2010 16:41

Trust me Mshalfcut sometimes I wonder what the fuck I am doing my particular world.

The less said about the "great" coat required the better, he smells like a wet sheep. But he does look kinda cute in the getup.

curiositykilledhaskittens · 10/01/2010 16:42

They're not having wet play because of the cold BTW, just because of the dangerous ice. Dry shorts are warmer than wet trousers too.

RustyBear · 10/01/2010 16:45

The school I work at is reopening tomorrow & the head has contacted parents saying: "To ensure that pupils are warm and comfortable throughout the day, school uniform is NOT necessary"

I am willing to bet that there will be a fair few children in short skirts and skimpy tops, and at least one with no coat....

borderslass · 10/01/2010 16:48

at the primary my daughters went to the girls weren't allowed to wear trousers no matter what the weather only thick tights they had an old school ma am never married as soon as she retired they changed this rule we have some real harsh winters as well here

madamearcati · 10/01/2010 16:51

Watching this post with interest.I was rounded on last week for saying that it was unreasonable to send a child to school in canvas shoes.

Mshalfcut · 10/01/2010 16:53

Theres a world of difference between primary school children and teenagers tho madam

diddl · 10/01/2010 16:59

Mine have been known to run around in the back garden naked in the snow.
With just wellies on

Pikelit · 10/01/2010 17:03

I know it gets very tiresome to keep hearing about how children in the 1950s and 60s managed to go to school in shorts and still not die of the cold but...

...a healthy child in shorts will stay warmer than a similar child who has to sit around in damp, long trousers.

madamearcati · 10/01/2010 17:03

Y6 to Y8 -2 years ?

CardyMow · 10/01/2010 17:11

Would not let DD go to school in a skirt in this weather, she will be wearing leggings under her trousers if school is open tomorrow. And the DS's will be in trousers. And I agree, cats bum face at the parents wearing thick trousers/hat/gloves/coat when their DD is in a dress. I would definately put on my judgy pants for that one. The DC's will always wear the same amount of layers as me. Non negotiable. If I need 2 pairs of socks on then so do they. And what's wrong with waterproof trousers& wellies for those that have to walk to school? Then their trousers stay dry? Rather than wearing shorts which is not weather appropriate?

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