Am I the loon or are they

[badblackpug]

I can't really see any reason the child would need a parka type coat in the classroom. I can see the light jacket or sweater, depending on weather and cold tolerance.

Many schools have banned hoodies and shirts with pockets. It is not just a safety issue (and everybody please remember that the majority of horribly violent issues have occurred in "nice" suburban communities, not in inner city schools) big bulky clothing with big pockets can also hide cell phones, Ipods, and flip video cameras.

Now for my kids (public) school policies. All electronic media devices must be kept in the locker. If you are caught with them in a classroom, or using them during school hours the 1st offense is the device is taken from you and a parent must come to the school to retrieve it. BTW... I have told my 13 year old if that happens she will find herself without a cell phone because I will NOT retrieve it. 2nd offense is suspension.

Dress code: Shorts and skirts must be no shorter than 1 inch above your knee. No exposed midriffs, no exposed underwear, including bras. No holes, or rips. No sleeveless tops. No exposed cleavage. No clothing with profanity or suggestive messages. No advertisements for cigarettes or alcohol, and nothing supporting drug use.

 

[golfgal]

Living in a place where 45 degrees this time of year would find kids wearing shorts , I would venture a guess that the teacher banned kids from wearing coats so they would go to their LOCKERS before lunch. My GUESS is that the kids are trying to get to the lunch room faster, thus the ban. Since the OP hasn't checked in yet, is the ban on BRINGING the coats or WEARING the coats? That is a huge difference.

You wouldn't find ANY kids wearing a bulky, down coat here if it was only 45 .

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I can't really see any reason the child would need a parka type coat in the classroom. I can see the light jacket or sweater, depending on weather and cold tolerance.

Many schools have banned hoodies and shirts with pockets. It is not just a safety issue (and everybody please remember that the majority of horribly violent issues have occurred in "nice" suburban communities, not in inner city schools) big bulky clothing with big pockets can also hide cell phones, Ipods, and flip video cameras.

Now for my kids (public) school policies. All electronic media devices must be kept in the locker. If you are caught with them in a classroom, or using them during school hours the 1st offense is the device is taken from you and a parent must come to the school to retrieve it. BTW... I have told my 13 year old if that happens she will find herself without a cell phone because I will NOT retrieve it. 2nd offense is suspension.

Dress code: Shorts and skirts must be no shorter than 1 inch above your knee. No exposed midriffs, no exposed underwear, including bras. No holes, or rips. No sleeveless tops. No exposed cleavage. No clothing with profanity or suggestive messages. No advertisements for cigarettes or alcohol, and nothing supporting drug use.

The students have to go outside. Did you read the OP's post?

At the HS where we are at dd will have to go outside frequently to go to different buildings and they can sit outside for lunch. There is not enough room inside for all the students.

In addition they allow backpacks to be with the students all day because students are not able to make it back to their lockers inbetween classes at times.

It is an old school.

 

[mhsjax]

Living in a place where 45 degrees this time of year would find kids wearing shorts , I would venture a guess that the teacher banned kids from wearing coats so they would go to their LOCKERS before lunch. My GUESS is that the kids are trying to get to the lunch room faster, thus the ban. Since the OP hasn't checked in yet, is the ban on BRINGING the coats or WEARING the coats? That is a huge difference.

You wouldn't find ANY kids wearing a bulky, down coat here if it was only 45 .

I agree about the 45 degrees, even here in FL. my kids are wearing hoodie type jackets with a heavy fuzzy lining and it is in the 30's here.

I also understand about the heavy coats taking up too much room in the class, but I don't understand why they would want the kids to go to their lockers before lunch, to me that doesn't make any sense. If it is lunch time, then it is time. My son had gym right before lunch last year, he loved it because they could change really quickly and be the first ones in line, guaranteeing their Chick F let sandwich. lol

Seems a lot of these school are really about all rules and nothing else, ours are more relaxed, follow the dress code, which is very easy. Go to school, do your work, no bullying, cell phone can be on you but not turned on.

 

[mjkacmom]

The students have to go outside. Did you read the OP's post?

At the HS where we are at dd will have to go outside frequently to go to different buildings and they can sit outside for lunch. There is not enough room inside for all the students.

In addition they allow backpacks to be with the students all day because students are not able to make it back to their lockers inbetween classes at times.

It is an old school.

Our HS is one of the newer buildings (about 75 years old). There is no way kids can always get back to their lockers in between classes, so they just carry their books. Most actually go out for lunch, since it's an open campus. Still no backpacks or coats are allowed, same as when I was in HS, and we managed.

 

[C.Ann]

I would venture a guess that the teacher banned kids from wearing coats so they would go to their LOCKERS before lunch.

Is your school a very small one? Now that DGD is in the middle school (multi-floors and quite large), if she needed a coat to go outside to get to the cafeteria, she would miss lunch every day.. There's just not enough time allowed for the students to leave the class they're in, go to their lockers for their coats, get to the cafeteria and go through the line, eat, clean off their table, go back to their lockers to replace the coats, and get to the next class on time.. Impossible..

 

[dismom2]

I don't understand how a coat takes up too much room in a classroom. Can't you hang it on the back of your chair if you're not wearing it? As for hiding things, you can hide things in your pocket (cell phone, ipod,, even a small knife, etc...).

Everybody's cold tolerance is different, so to ban so many types of outerwear sounds unreasonable to me. And who wants to go out and purchase yet more outerwear that your kids will outgrow quickly. Some people probably cannot afford to do so; will their kids go without then? Sad.

I think there are too many rules being made at the schools. Maybe they should all be equipped with metal detectors if they are worried about weapons (I know, expensive).

 

[KLAIT]

My son came home and told me sort of the same story for his woodshop class..

 

[mickeyboat]

My son came home and told me sort of the same story for his woodshop class..

I think woodshop class is a completely different story. Loose-fitting clothing and hooded clothing can be caught in a machine, and is a safety hazard.

 

[KLAIT]

Mickeyboat

I totally agree that woodshop is a different story..I was just making the point that there may be a reason that is not clear

 

[HelenePA]

I want to add we dont have an open campus but we do have "modular" classrooms to handle the over flow of students we've seen in the recent years... I wont get into that but they are building a new school and those should be done away with next year but right now there are students in our HS that have to leave the building with no coat on.. I have seen some wearing hoodies though.. I really dont know how it all works since my kids stay inside unless they go out for recess.. then they are allowed to wear coats, hoodies, hats, the works.. just inside no coats, no hoodies, no hats, no gloves.. I've been down there enough to know my kids are actually sweating not freezing right now.. they must have the temps in there jacked up to the mid to upper 70s.. they yell at me for trying to make them wear sweaters or long sleeves.. its been in the 30's for a high here lately.. very different from when I was in school. I was always cold in that hs..

 

[mickeyboat]

Mickeyboat

I totally agree that woodshop is a different story..I was just making the point that there may be a reason that is not clear

Ah yes. We are on the same page!

 

[cristit14]

If I remember correctly the schools around here started the no coats or backpacks in the classrooms after Columbine. But we don't go outside to change classes in most of the local schools here.
Donna[/QUOTE

My DD can't take big coats in the classroom, but hoodies and such are fine. They don't have to go outside to switch classes at all. They can take backpacks to class too. They don't usually have time to go to their lockers during passing period.

 

[disfan07]

Are they allowed to have backpacks in class? If not...dont they have to go to their locker in between classes anyways?

In middle school, we were not allowed to have backpacks with us in the classroom under any circumstance. Same with jackets. All of it had to go into our lockers.

In high school, backpacks and jackets were allowed in teh classroom but backpacks and jackets had to be either on the back of the chair or under your desk.

Jackets and backpacks can cause big problems in classrooms. Our class had 30-35 kids in a class. The desks were firly close together. During the winter, if everyone had brought backpacks and jackets to class, you would barely have been able to move in teh room. Luckily, half of the class used their lockers.

In elementary school, when we had bigger classrooms with a lot more space than in MS or HS, we couldnt have our backpacks or jackets at our desks either. They were kept outide of the classroom on hooks or in the coat closet inside the classroom.

I actually dont remember ever actually wearing my jacket in a classroom. Hoodies yes, winter coats, no.

 

[badblackpug]

The students have to go outside. Did you read the OP's post?

At the HS where we are at dd will have to go outside frequently to go to different buildings and they can sit outside for lunch. There is not enough room inside for all the students.

In addition they allow backpacks to be with the students all day because students are not able to make it back to their lockers inbetween classes at times.

It is an old school.

I most certainly did read it. The OPs subsequent post said that some kids were wearing big, puffy jackets in the classroom. I still see no reason to wear a large parka type jacket in a classroom when it is 45 degrees outside.

 

[LMC]

OP here, sorry it took so long for me to get back but I work nights and during the day I do doctor appts and other errands.
They do have lockers. They can wear coats to school. They can wear coats to other classes. It appears it is just this one teacher. I am trying to find out from my kid if it is just this one period for the teacher or for all her class periods. My kid does wear the coat to all the other classes but has to remember to remove it before this class period. It is a northface so not a heavy coat. And for me anything below 70 degrees requires a coat or jacket or sweater of some sort!!!
They could hang it on the back of the chair because the desks are not connected but now they can't do anything since coats are banned from class. If this were an official dress coat and system wide then I would not have a problem with it but it seems a teacher is trying to do something: powerplay, make new rules, be a witch, make life miserable for others. I don't know.
As far as I can tell so far, the kids were wearing LARGE coats, and teach didn't like it so no more big coats. The kids screamed "no fair" so teach says ok then nothing at all.
Thanks for all the replies, at least I know I am not being too sensitive.

 

[badblackpug]

I can see the point for no large puffy coats. They are bulky and noisy (think of all the swish, swish) Not to mention all the space to hide Ipods and cell phones. There really is no need to wear that heavy of a coat indoors. I can understand a light jacket or sweater, especially if you are the type of person that doesn't tolerate the cold well. (I am) ...but I can also hear a group of 7th graders crying "no fair! Billy/Bobby/Susie gets to wear his/her coat/jacket!"

 

[mjkacmom]

I can see the point for no large puffy coats. They are bulky and noisy (think of all the swish, swish) Not to mention all the space to hide Ipods and cell phones. There really is no need to wear that heavy of a coat indoors. I can understand a light jacket or sweater, especially if you are the type of person that doesn't tolerate the cold well. (I am) ...but I can also hear a group of 7th graders crying "no fair! Billy/Bobby/Susie gets to wear his/her coat/jacket!"

I agree, and would support the teacher. Ds12 will wear shorts until it's under 32 degrees. It was in the mid 40's this week, and I had to force my kids to wear jackets. A few minutes standing outside in 45 degrees isn't going to hurt anyone - heck, they have fire drills all year round, and have to stand outside in freezing weather. Obviously, the jackets were causing a problem in this class, and the teacher is looking for a solution.

 

[jme829]

I most certainly did read it. The OPs subsequent post said that some kids were wearing big, puffy jackets in the classroom. I still see no reason to wear a large parka type jacket in a classroom when it is 45 degrees outside.

At my dd's HS, a good number of the kids do go outside to pass to the next class, because the hallways just get too crowded so its quicker going outside and almost NONE of them wear a coat...and it gets COLD here..(we're just east of the Twin Cities).

It is a large school and there just isn't time to go grab a coat all the time. Half the kids don't even wear them to school... I see kids out in the parking lot wearing tshirts and flip flops in the winter when it is under 10 degrees. (although they do wear their mittens..lol)

DD didn't even bother getting a locker this year and she rarely wears her coat to school. If she does she leaves it in her car or puts it in a friends locker.

 

[Becky2005]

Our school rule does not allow hoods of any kind, so the kids can't wear hoodies at all. It makes it kind of hard when its cool but not cold but she wears her Northface pretty much year round. At the high school she will attend they cannot have hoods OR pockets--such fun THAT will be.

The hoodies my DD wears was bought AT the school that is from her sports or "school spirit wear".


I understand about the big coats but we would have had a problem in 7th grade without at least the lightweight jackets. DD had to wear a back brace and it was near imposssible to find clothes that would fit properly over that, so she wore a lightweight jacket over it.