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

[MollyRoger]

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

meant dressed like a slut obviously. Pedantic cross through script...

I HAVE NEVER USED THE WORD NEGLECT ON THIS THREAD!

Today; two children without coats, five without gloves and seven with soaking wet slip on shoes and soggy socks/tights.

Some of you should have tried my girls' school in the 80s. No heating, games lessons in kilts, aertex & navy blues in December. We were taught to be hardy - and it didn't harm any of us. I went out ths morning with a knee length thinnish skirt, single layer top and a jacket. I wasn't cold, obviously I am made of sterner stuff than some others. I parrot what curiosity said, what will wearing shorts in the winter actually do to the child ??

sorry Molly, skim reading has caused me to confuse my M names! lol Sorry, quite right, you have never used the word neglect.

Molly - it was me who said it was neglect, and I still think so.

So leave her alone.

Insult me all you like. Water. Duck. Ass.

Maybe it just makes them unconfortable?

Curiosity thanks for the info. I had to LOL at the one coat for one outfit - it never occurred to me. I thought about the 'look' one and the no money for the cloakroom too. The too drunk to remember it never crossed my mind.

whydobird as you were one of those hard nrtheners can you tell me why tights are also a no no? Surely a nicley clad leg is much more preferable than a white blue one.

(I a asking out of true sheer desire to know - I have been living in britain for many years and always wanted to know the origin of this cultural difference)

Well DS's (thick, cord) shorts are teamed with very washable and snuggly cotton polo-necks and jumpers and any coat they like

(and Pippis, I am English and have always wondered the same thing. At university I coached a crew and one girl would turn up in shorts at 6am in January when I was wearing tights and lycra leggings and tracksuit bottoms - so clearly whatever gene it is that makes this seem like a good or even tolerable idea is missing in me )

rubysreturn - shorts with a tie? Don't most schools require a shirt and tie? Is that what you mean? Thinking shorts with a tie on them? No, that'd be a strange requirement... ROFL All of the schools in our town require a tie, at least for winter uniform...

DS does go to a faith school and shorts are required but he'd never let himself get cold without wailing about it as if we were killing him! LOL! It is amusing to think it is posh... It's not particularly desirable although I think a wonderful school as there are only 16 others in DS' class this year. Everyone wants their children to go to the massive non-faith tie wearing school around the corner. My town is a fairly large town too. It's traditional I think. Silly but traditional rather than superior.

I hate uniform, if DS was unhappy with the shorts I send him in trousers. He isn't though, unhappy or cold and I'm not surprised given he runs into school like a dog takes off running when you take it off the lead and spends the whole day running if he can. He always comes home with sweaty hair... yuck...

I find all this quite funny as when I lived in Italy, they cancelled school swimming completely where we were in Rome because the parents were upset that the children were being sent outside without their hair having been thoroughly dried. In Rome!!

So it's probably a cultural thing and wondering about it is like wondering why muslims are offended by seeing the soles of your feet.

OMG no tights in this weather? I think that's appalling actually.

I am a TA and am horrified that at my school the little children (3-4) were not putting their coats on to go out in November. No one was reminding them. Then the teachers wonder why they are all ill with colds.

I hate seeing kids with wet hair from swimming walking around in the cold. I just think children like to be warm and comfortable, which bare legs certainly are not in the winter.

But surely cold weather doesn't cause colds, the cold virus causes colds.

My ds still occasionally insists on wearing shorts in winter, and is never cold, and is very rarely ill, yet my dd is freezing cold all the time, even in the middle of summer.

My ds refuses to wear gloves when he's building a snowman, because, as he's pointed out to me, when he's finished, he can put his dry gloves on, and they warm his hands up, rather than having wet gloves that carry on freezing the rest of the day. He's not stupid!

Surely children of a certain age can judge for themselves how cold/warm they are? (obviously not babies and toddlers, but once a child gets to 5/6, they know themselves the consequences of dressing too warmly or coldly)

Am quite that anyone could consider this neglect.

The drop in body temp makes your immune system more vulnerable to viruses. Hence the flu/ cold increase in Winter months.

Romanarama LOL. So so true about Italy. Mortal sin there NOT to dry your hair EVER !

BooHoo - seriously, almost everybody will catch the flu or a cold if they are exposed to the virus... Cold and Flu viruses are very successful.

Colds/Flu incidences increasing in winter is nothing to do with people being cold, it is to do with the air being cold (and dry) and the viruses being more stable at low temperatures and therefore more likely to be transmitted.

If you are going down that road what you really should be saying is 'AIBU to think children should stay at home in the warm/be driven to school in warm cars?'

I think you get more colds in the winter because you spend more time in rooms where the windows and doors are tight shut too. Also in hot countries in summer because of doing the same thing for the sake of the aircon.

and have a look at this article with a reasonably convincing account of why having a cold nose (not being cold) can make you more likely to get a cold

Ha ha ha! Roman - interesting! I'd like to read the study though! So we should all wrap up our noses to avoid colds!!! PMSL!

It's not about the cold or flu virus - it's about being cold.

Sorry, I'm breaking my own rules and I haven't reaad the whole thread. In fact I'm hijacking. Just wanted to ask, as an aside, whether anyone else had to run around the games field in shorts and a T-shirt when it was too icy to play hockey? Tantamount to child abuse if you ask me.

I wouldn't let DS out for any length of time in those temperatures with bare legs btw.

I disagree curiosity, not everybody catches a cold if exposed to the virus so I don't know where your comes from.

Being cold does lower your resistance. I am currently in the midst of lengthy discussions about this with DDs' Peaditrician re. her immunoglobulin testing.

Er yes I do think children should be kept as warm as possible when outdoors in the midst of a harsh winter, this means warm clothes. Is that...radical?

boohoo - I did say almost.

In order for your immune system to be weakened by being cold you have to be exposed to cold for very prolonged periods of time so that the cold stress forces your body to focus on thermo-regulation rather than immune response. Short exposure to cold will not weaken your immune system.

Your argument also hinges on the assumption that children with bare legs will be cold, this is not necessarily true. Personally my DS has no choice as his uniform dictates shorts but he is never cold with long socks, long shorts and a warm jumper, coat, hat, scarf and gloves. I can tell by holding his little toastie warm hand.

It is not a given that someone else's child will be cold with bare legs just because yours may be and besides thinking "oh, that child must be cold" I can't see why you would give it any further thought since it's not really any of your business how another parent dresses their child unless the child is being harmed and even then the correct thing to do is tackle the issue with the parent/SS/school e.t.c.