Recess Temperatures

[redrhodie]

The not wearing coats/appropriate cold weather gear seems to be a phenomenon that is fairly recent (last 10 years or so). I used to think that the parents were terrible by not sending their kids with coats, etc. when I taught at the middle school level, but then I realized they all ditched their coats somewhere after they left the house. Every day I go to my internship, I drive by a kid (younger teen) who is standing in his driveway waiting for the bus. Every day he is wearing shorts and a bulky sweatshirt. His legs are often bright red! It has to hurt, when it's 5 F out.

I wonder if this is a New England phenomenon? I always see kids around here waiting for the bus, in freezing cold and even snow, wearing just a hoody. It seems winter coats are very out of fashion.

[Becky]

I dunno if it's strictly a New England thing, but it's definitely not just a kid thing. My husband (in his mid 30s) still refuses to wear a coat most days! It was in the low teens here a couple of weeks ago, and it was all I could do to get him to wear a shell, let alone anything insulated

[Tuckervill]

My kid doesn't go to school and has never waited for a school bus. He has Reynaud's, too. He only wears gloves if there is snow to play in, and if he will be outside for longer than it takes to get to the car. When we had temps in the single digits recently (very rare for Arkansas), he did wear gloves more often, because his Reynaud's kicked in quickly then.

My son goes out in all weather, as he wishes. For him, it's about the inconvenience of wearing a jacket, when it's 30 seconds to the car and he'll be warm five minutes after the car starts. it's about not carrying the jacket in the mall. It's just too much fuss to wear a jacket when he's going to take it off in 5 minutes.

In certain weather, I insist that he bring with him appropriate weather gear even if he doesn't wear it. Because one never knows when the car may break down or we slide into the ditch. I just don't need to worry about that AND him not being equipped to do the walking or standing around or working that might require. It's our compromise. When he was 6 he didn't see the point of shoes. We had the same compromise.

I don't think he's a wuss. I think having such a high temp as the guideline for recess is coddling. But kids at the bus stop wearing nothing but a hoody does not a wuss make. I think that's a kid making a choice. I think that's more about adults making blanket rules without considering all the factors. I think that's about a nagging mother who always said "wear a jacket!" instead of "have a good day!"

My 25 and 27 yo's had the same issue with jackets in elementary school, so I don't think it's a new thing.

Karen

[Crankin]

I don't think the kids are wusses for not wearing coats; that's just, well, not sure what that is. I think the parents are turning their kids into wusses by trying to protect them from everything known to mankind.
I don't know, I never would have thought about not wearing a coat in the freezing winter when I was a kid. It seems like this was non-issue. I was not a particularly acquiescent child, so I wonder what's changed.

[Veronica]

... so I wonder what's changed.

What I see is parents, even great parents, give their kids more voice. Even the great parents I have allow their kids to challenge their authority. I'm talking about ten and eleven year olds challenging their parents, not teens.

While I do think it's good to encourage your kid to have an opinion, there are some things, they just should not question - in my opnion.

Veronica

[Melalvai]

uforgot, after all this discussion, I'm really interested in hearing what your principal decides.

[OakLeaf]

I don't think the kids are wusses for not wearing coats; that's just, well, not sure what that is.

I think it's a contest of machismo more than anything (yes, girls too). "I can take the cold." I remember standing in line for a movie in 20°F and stripping off all my outer layers, down to a T-shirt and jeans, just to look tough.

[sfa]

While I do think it's good to encourage your kid to have an opinion, there are some things, they just should not question - in my opnion.

Absolutely true. But wearing a coat in the winter isn't one of those things they shouldn't question. In fact, I think this is a GOOD one to question because it's not likely to cause any real harm (I might insist if the temperature was so low that frostbite was likely) and is one of those great situations where the consequence of a dumb choice is built in. They will be cold and miserable. And if the kid chooses to remain cold and miserable for the sake of looking cool, that's fine. She's made a choice and shown that she has control over what she wears (and really, after age five or six you can't MAKE them wear something if they are intent on not wearing it) and that's a little bit of independence you want them to have.

[Veronica]

Right, but just because the kids make a poor choice to not wear a coat, the teachers should not have to have indoor recess. For most teachers recess is their break. We don't get to just walk out of the room and go to the bathroom. or get a drink or a snack. I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue if I just left my room right now to go to the bathroom. So instituting a rule that there will be indoor recess in MO whenever the temperature is below 40 degrees pretty much guarantees that those teachers will not get a break until March.

It's ludicrous. It's Missouri for goodness sake. It gets cold there all the time.

Veronica

[uforgot]

uforgot, after all this discussion, I'm really interested in hearing what your principal decides.

Well, it's not my principal. I'm in the High School, (I send them on their way after 50 minutes) but I have passed along the information and views to a teacher friend who is a 4th grade teacher, and told me about the policy and how upset all of the teachers were. I hope that they can pull together something and present it to their principal. I'll let you know what happens.

I'm a high school teacher, but I have had elementary students in summer school and I just want to say:

God Bless our Elementary teachers! I have no idea how they do it year after year...

[zoom-zoom]

Really...if 40 degrees is too dangerously cold for these kids to be outside (and it's not, otherwise there would be no Humans living and spending time outdoors in Canada or Alaska...or any other areas where we have actual Winter)...I predict a generation of kids who will only be adding to the obese and inactive population in this country. All these kids are being taught is that any degree of physical discomfort is to be avoided at all cost and that the outdoors is only acceptable in a 30 degree temperature range. That's far scarier than any unlikely potential for hypothermia. It's especially upsetting given the cuts in PE programs. When are these kids ever supposed to have any physical activity?

[Irulan]

And if the kid chooses to remain cold and miserable for the sake of looking cool, that's fine. .

haha. Drive by our high school in the winter sometime. Single digits, shorts, on boys.

[Owlie]

This discussion of whether or not a kid chooses to wear layers has me laughing. I was always the kid who wore her coat, hat, gloves and scarf--if anything, I was often overdressed. I still love my layers! My sister, on the other hand, would often go to the bus stop (before I started driving her to school) with no coat, or buy coats that are really not suited for the weather. During her high school career, her winter coat of choice was a lighter (but fashionable) wool-blend thing. Mine was a Lands' End Squall jacket.

My elementary school (in Cincinnati) had a "must be above freezing and no snow" rule. I thought it was silly. I still think it's silly.

[Tri Girl]

oh I had to wear my coat when I left the house to catch the bus in middle school, but always stashed my coat in my locker when I got to school. I hated wearing a coat because it was *uncool* (which I still don't understand).

I just meant that we coddle our children so much these days that they don't get to *experience* things like they should (like being uncomfortable, failure, heartbreak, etc). You know: the "everyone gets a trophy for just showing up" and the "we're all the best so everyone gets to be on the honor roll" kind of stuff. Experiencing failure is a good thing, so is being uncomfortable and let down. I teach some kids that I fear will have a major meltdown in college when they realize that they aren't the only special ones in the world and that sometimes you try hard and still come up short and fail because they have never had that experience. Ya know?

And yes, V, I agree with everything you said. I think you see it differently when you teach. Choice is good, but sometimes what you say goes because you're the parent and that's the way it is.

[SadieKate]

haha. Drive by our high school in the winter sometime. Single digits, shorts, on boys.

You would think they'd understand shrinkage by this time.