Maybe it's the boys, but when I drive Connor to school and it's FREEZING outside, I see boys walking to school without a jacket on!! Every day!! One of my tutoring students came when it snowed and didn't wear one at all!!

Hands in their pockets, skating to school, in nothing but a t-shirt and pants!

By Melanie on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 11:51 am:

I have crazy kids who do this! I don't get it. But I figure I have kids who are smart enough to know if they are cold and if they are, they will bundle up.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 11:53 am:

Crazy kids up here in WI, too. I see so many girls on cold cold days, not wearing their jackets, around the high school. They have got to be freezing! I don't understand it, either. My kids have always worn their jackets.

By Colette on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 12:04 pm:

a lot of times, their jackets are to bulky to fit in the their lockers, esp. if they have a lot of books in there. most high schoolers do not wear jackets heavier than a sweatshirt, around here.

By Vicki on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 12:55 pm:

I agree with Colette, the lockers are way too small these days for big jackets to fit in! By the time you put your back pack in, there is no room for a heavy coat. Dd rarely wears anything heavier than a sweatshirt hooded jacket for that very reason. Dh takes her to school on his way to work and I pick her up so she isn't walking or standing at a bus stop. But honestly, if I were in school with their lockers, I wouldn't wear a heavy coat either! Just no room for it!

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 03:24 pm:

My kids wear their Columbia jackets to school. Their lockers are about a foot wide, though. Are you talking narrower than that?

We drive Emily to school and pick her up, but for the pickup, she has to walk about 2 blocks to get to the car. The circle drive, right by the building gets too clogged up and you end up sitting there, even though YOUR kids are in the car. Anyway, she needs the jacket!

By Mrsheidi on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 03:53 pm:

They could at least wear a fleece, no???

By Vicki on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 04:11 pm:

Yep, I am talking 6 to 8 inches wide. Very slim, not like the lockers I had in school at all!

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 04:32 pm:

OMG YES!!! Dh and I were just talking about this a few weeks ago when it was 0 degrees here. Kids in SHORTS, tank tops, and no long sleeves whatsoever, let alone a coat. I never went without a coat to school because my parents would have never let me. I don't understand the whole backpack thing at school. We never used backpacks in H.S., but it seems to have become the 'thing' to do since shortly after I graduated. I noticed it when I started subbing HS while I was in college. We went to our lockers after each class, or doubled up for one class. Books went on the bottom and top and coats were stuffed in the middle.

By Tayjar on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 04:43 pm:

Reds - Backpacks are mandatory at our schools starting in kindergarten. All kids must carry one or pull one. No exceptions. In our middle school, the kids are only allowed to go to their lockers before school after the bell rings, before lunch, and after school. Otherwise it is a d-hall and you sit out for one game if you are on a sports team.

We have alot of older kids who don't dress appropriately for the weather. I know in grade school, they make the kids who opt not to wear a coat stay in at recess and help the teacher. My son tries to get by with a sweatshirt but we make him wear a coat if it is under 55 - 60 degrees. And yes, he will stand out in the rain, too, if we don't make him come in. He gets his intelligence from his father's side. It has to be.

By Tarable on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 05:56 pm:

Wow.. my oldest is in middle school and she doesn't wear a heavy jacket to school because there isn't enough room in her locker for it and her backpack but she always has on a fleece jacket or hoodie.. But around her you have to have a backpack in elementary but in middle and high school you can't take them to any of your classes. So my poor DD ends up saying she doesn't have enough time to go to her locker between classes so she has to carry all of her books (not in a bag) for the first 4 periods of the day then she changes them out at lunch for the end of the day classes.

By Tink on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 06:19 pm:

My ds hates wearing a jacket and he's only 8. I send him in one everyday but I drive by his school on my way home from work and see him on the playground at lunch with no jacket and many times he's taken off his sweatshirt and is running around in the t-shirt he was wearing as an undershirt. At least I know he has one available if he needs it and he says that he takes it off because he gets too hot from running around. Of course, our cold temps are in the 40s and low 50's, not freezing like it is for so many of you.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 01:27 am:

I guess my kids should be happy they have big lockers. I had skinny lockers in middle school, but I managed to fit my jacket in there. I can't remember if I had a backpack, too, though. I don't think I had a backpack until college.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 07:55 am:

Quite frankly with the things that HS kids take to school these days, they shouldn't even be allowed. It's actually a safety issue IMO. I think there is one school here where backpacks are forbidden in class, no rolling backpacks are allowed anywhere here except for the private schools.

The kids that DH and I see here are just out on the weekends, standing outside with their friends in shorts and tank tops at 20 degrees. We are seriously looking at each other wondering if these kids have lost some brain cells. Yes doing stupid stuff is part of being a teenager, and I have plenty of stories myself, but standing in the freezing cold in meager clothing was not one of them. As far as elementary goes, we don't have many 50 degree days here - it's either hot or cold with very few days of in-between. The kids aren't outside at all on cold days, so recess isn't an issue.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 08:11 am:

My kids do not wear coats either. They both stopped wearing them their Freshman year of high school. IF it is really cold, which in Ohio that doesn't happen very often anymore, they will lug one around. But like today is supposed to be in the 50's, to us that is warm this time of year and they both walked out this morning in a sweat shirt. I likely won't be wearing a winter coat either.

When I was in high school, the weather here was colder and I wore a lettermans/varsity jacket, a sweat shirt and a pair of gloves when it was cold. I just took it off in each class and hung it on the back of my chair. I carried a back pack, but not from class to class. I knew my schedule and I knew when I would be near my locker and there were many times that I had to carry many books from class to class. It was no big deal, just what everyone had to do. I honestly don't remember anyone running around with out a coat on, there might have been a few, but not the numbers of kids I see today.

I think every generation thinks the ones bellow them are off their rocker and I tend to agree. With the education these kids are given today on STDs, pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, dating abuse, eating disorders, gang violence and such. It is truly sad to see the things they are putting themselves and each other through. It is even more upsetting to me to see the things that the parents are putting their kids through.

But anyway, before I get off topic.. It is common around here to see kids of all ages with out coats, no matter the weather. So it is a nation wide issue/trend it seems.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 08:16 am:

I've seen girls not wearing the jackets, that they are holding, when it's in the teens. In the 50's, I probably wouldn't have a jacket on, either. What I'm complaining about is when the temperature is below freezing.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 08:17 am:

OH..... Callie and I went to Columbus two weeks ago so she could shop for clothes. She is so thin that there are only two stores in town that carry clothes that are slim enough for her to wear. (yes makes me ill too, wish I had that issues ) We had snow on the ground and I kid you not we saw a dozen or so girls running around in flip flop sandals. No joke.. Snow on the ground and flip flops, now that is nuts..

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 10:56 am:

I've seen people wearing flipflops in cold wet weather, too! LOL! Not me!

We actually had a dry day yesterday, since the snow is gone, so I wore my crocs! LOL! I had socks on though, and my feet weren't cold. I was never out longer than just running to and from the car, though.

It was 38-ish, when I dropped Emily off this morning. 2 boys got out of a car. One was wearing a shirt and hooded sweatshirt. The other one was just wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and nothing else.

Emily was wearing a t-shirt, but grabbed a hoodie, before she left. She wore her jacket to school, too.

By Mrsheidi on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 12:23 pm:

Deanna, most schools require backpacks that are see-through or mesh. This helps deter weapons, etc. But, you could still have a large jacket and, with the baggy pants, hide an Escalade in there.
I might add that, with the cold weather, you can see their breath and they have a good .5 mile walk to school in their t-shirts...I just don't get it!!

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 07:11 pm:

Emily can carry any kind of backpack she wants to. She just can't carry a purse big enough for a textbook. (Think Vera Bradley tote bag - too big.)

By Bobbie~moderatr on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 09:52 am:

We do not have back pack regulations here either.

By Colette on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 10:51 am:

No backpack regulations or requirements up here.

By Bellajoe on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 12:04 pm:

My 7 yr old son hates wearing what he calls his "fat pouffy coat". It is just a regular winter coat. Of course I make him because I still have the power to do that LOL.

The other day when it was 45 degrees out, he swore that it was warm enough to play outside with out a coat on because "so and so got off the bus and took off HER coat!"

I let him play out side, but made him wear the coat and a hat. He was out for about 4 minutes, then he came in because he was cold.
LOL See mommy knows what she is talking about.

Any ways, yes when i worked at the playground last year. Kids would be there with no coats, or just a sweatshirt. Girls wore short skirts with no stockings. I dont know why or how they did that.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 09:15 am:

8-9 degrees outside. Windchill of zero. I saw a girl walking up to the school today, in a hooded sweatshirt, no hat/no mittens.

I saw two guys wearing shorts and little no-show socks, and more of a windbreaker jacket, than a winter jacket.

Brrrrr. I was in the car, that was warming up by that point, and had on a winter jacket, hat, and mittens!

Emily had on a hat and her columbia winter jacket. I hope she had mittens with her. She didn't have them on.

By Debbie on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 09:55 am:

A few days ago they had a piece on the Today show about the fact that kids don't wear coats anymore. Supposedly, they aren't cool!

Well, my oldest really doesn't like to wear a coat. But, this morning it was in the teens with the windchill. He wore his with no complaint. Now, I did notice our neighbor with just a hooded sweatshirt. He looked like he was freezing standing at the bus stop.

By Pandamamaoo4 on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 02:26 pm:

Hey, I'm one of the people wearing flipflops in the COLD AND raining weather ....OK so I do live in FL but when we lived in Va I did it there too!! I'm not nuts but as long as the upper body has a light jacket on I'm fine.We dont own HEAVY jackets here..LONG gone...DSH is the same way.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 02:53 pm:

Well, we need heavy jackets up here, in WI.

Statement as of 12:12 PM CST on January 18, 2008

... Bitterly cold air to affect area tonight through Saturday night...

... Wind Chill Advisory remains in effect from midnight tonight to 6 am CST Sunday...

Bitterly cold temperatures and brisk northwest to west winds will generate wind chills down into the 20 to 30 degree below zero range.

A Wind Chill Advisory is issued when the combination of very cold air temperatures... and winds of 10 mph or greater... will create hazardous wind chill values of between 20 below to 34 below zero for 3 hours or longer. These conditions will result in frostbite... and could lead to hypothermia... if precautions are not taken.

Brrrr. And the Packer game is OUTSIDE, on Sunday night? Don't you want tickets?