Would you send your child to school in this weather?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Just my two cents. If the weather is extremely cold and this is very unusual for that region, the schools have a responsibility to address the issue to the students and parents, as well as make reasonable accommodations. For example, announcing to all students, the requirement to come to school wearing a jacket. Sending a letter home to the parents, letting them know that they will be called to come pick up their child if they sent them to school inadequately dressed. Setting up a community program where people can donate coats for the school children.

I can understand your frustration as a teacher, Gabi, especially in trying to be sympathetic, or perhaps pragmatic to the issues where kids are coming to school inadequately dressed for the weather, but the school can do something about it. Maybe you feel the school doesn't do enough, but then that's where your frustration should be aimed at, IMO.

Spoken like a true "I'm not responsible for anything" liberal. Yes, the SCHOOL should tell the PARENTS to buy a coat for their kids! And if their parents with the stupid gene do not buy them a coat, then what? The school will send them home without a coat? Col. Bat #######, you are just too much sometimes.

Then again, based on what I read here, maybe it IS necessary for some parents and teachers to be told when to buy clothes. Oh, and if the diaper says 12-18 lbs, that is NOT how much ####### it will hold before you have to change it...OK?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Spoken like a true "I'm not responsible for anything" liberal. Yes, the SCHOOL should tell the PARENTS to buy a coat for their kids! And if their parents with the stupid gene do not buy them a coat, then what? The school will send them home without a coat? Col. Bat #######, you are just too much sometimes.

Then again, based on what I read here, maybe it IS necessary for some parents and teachers to be told when to buy clothes. Oh, and if the diaper says 12-18 lbs, that is NOT how much ####### it will hold before you have to change it...OK?

[Niels Bohr 72]

Someone's got problems here. I agree with Galt's Gallstone.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Someone's got problems here. I agree with Galt's Gallstone.

Xanax, Prozac...maybe Gary's pharmacy ran out?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Like most of the country, we are experiencing especially cold weather. It's supposed to be about 20 degrees F tomorrow morning when the students are meant to catch the bus (at about 6:00 AM). We never have this kind of weather and our winters are rather short, so while my students might wear expensive shoes, flashy bling, mulitple tatoos, or gold grills, understandably, they don't spend money on heavy winter coats. Many of them walk around school with towels as blankets rather than any coat at all. We can't even get really cold-weather clothing here except at sporting goods stores. And their uniform pants are cotton.

I'm not blaming the school board for not cancelling school. I understand where they are coming from. And as far as I'm concerned, I would rather teach tomorrow than have to make up a day come summer time. But I don't think I'd send my child to school on such a day. Most schools here are designed so that you have to go outside to get from class to class.

Would you send your child to school in this sort of weather if they didn't have the clothing for it?

Why would I have kids if I couldn't clothe them?

[Ban Hammer 13,429]

A wind chill warning is issued when the forecasted wind chill temperature is -25°F or lower, which can be life threatening if the individual is not suitably dressed. Persons who go outside under such conditions may experience frostbite and other cold-related symptoms in a matter of minutes, even if properly clothed for normal winter conditions, and longer exposures may prove fatal.

link

while baby boy would go to school, nessa or i would drop him off at school. i'll not have him waiting around outside for the bus in temperatures like that because as we all know, kids will be kids and they'll probably do something like make snow angels or have snowball fights, which gets their clothes wet.

[natty bumppo 297]

Why would I have kids if I couldn't clothe them?

cause you didn't have a raincoat?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

cause you didn't have a raincoat?

No. But I had a dickie.

[caybee 21]

First, no, I would not send my child to school without dressing him appropriately for the weather. If I absolutely did not have the means to clothe him properly, I'd keep him home, get his assignments, and help him catch up as best I could. That said, I don't think expensive winter coats are necessary for a few days of 20-degree weather. I grew up in South Carolina and still live here. We didn't have money to spare when I was growing up, and I don't remember having anything heavier than a lightweight jacket because I almost never needed more than that. On very rare occasions, we got enough snow to play in and go "sledding." On those occasions, we layered up: a couple extra long-sleeved shirts under our jackets, long underwear under our jeans if we had them, but at least a couple extra sets of undies to keep our backsides dry longer, three pairs of socks, plastic bags between two of the layers to keep our feet dry (family members were allergic to wool), and sneakers. If we didn't have gloves or mittens one year, we put baggies and Dad's socks on our hands, anything to get us out there so we could have fun. We'd play outside like this for hours, then go inside, change out the wet layers, and go outside again.

If layering got us through hours of rolling around in the snow, I would think the same would be enough for a kid to wait for a bus and dart between buildings between classes. If there was not adequate heat in the school buildings, that would be a different story. I also missed the age of the kids. High school and most junior high kids will find a way to stay warm if they are uncomfortable. Elementary kids need a little more guidance in that area, and if the parents aren't providing it but have the means for frivolous things, that's shameful. It sounds like the school district took everything into account and made the best decision they could, and nobody here knows your area like you do, but I would say at least for my area, they close school more often than they really need to.

Now, wind chills like Charles is talking about are a different story. I experienced a wind chill of -40 F once in my life as an adult. As bundled up as I could get, I still couldn't stand to be outside for more than a minute or two at a time. My car battery froze. Temps like that in a place that isn't used to them merits closing schools as well as many workplaces in my opinion.

[natty bumppo 297]

No. But I had a dickie.

[Peikko 1,575]

Oh dear, I did a typo in my original sarcastic post.

I meant to say, a warm coat in a hot climate is fabulous parenting

I would keep my kid at home if I thought he would get sick on the way to school because of not having appropriate clothing which could happen as my kid does not currently own a warm coat - even though he just spent three weeks in the UK in their big chill. Interestingly the only harm he came to is a wind rash around his mouth, no coat was going to stop that

[AlHayatZween 2]

wall street and insurance companies need smart people! don't hate us, we can be part of the solution

i'm coaxing all the impressionable undergrads at the university to storm the Senate.

[NickD 203]

What you really need to do, is to dress your kid in a spacesuit. Our schools are the most germ infected areas, anywhere. Then the kids bring all that stuff home with them.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

What we need is a federal government run public option to buy kids coats. Clearly the free market has proven inadequate in that it is not affordable to all who need it.

[natty bumppo 297]

What we need is a federal government run public option to buy kids coats. Clearly the free market has proven inadequate in that it is not affordable to all who need it.

good idea

the gov't can purchase coats at $75 each and resell at $10 each