Almost all my coworkers feel the need to comment that I’m still wearing shorts past-Halloween. Yeah, even if it’s cold outside it gets stuffy and hot in this damn warehouse! I can tolerate the cold between my car and the front door better than I can tolerate getting sweaty in here!
I’ve always ran a little hot and have tended to be more comfortable in cooler weather, but I will often get random strangers coming up to me and being like “OH MY GOD SIR ARE YOU NOT FREEZING RIGHT NOW! YOU ARE WEARING BUT A T-SHIRT AND GYM SHORTS AND IT’S BELLOW 60!” No, I’m fine, I just don’t mind the cold much.
What’s the worst that could happen if you let them outside anyway? I imagine they would choose to come back inside and give some excuse like “I didn’t want to play anyway” long before suffering any medical consequence like frostbite. Seems like a harmless way to teach them a lesson.
There’s a lot of moving pieces in an elementary school that can be disrupted by one child insisting they don’t need pants or a jacket. Too many to type, not the least of which is cutting into teacher planning time or administration time to supervise a child who would have otherwise been supervised by designated recess monitors outside.
this is a way bigger conversation than recess but i always hated how i couldn’t be left alone for ten fucking minutes as a kid. like i’m 9 years old you don’t need to watch me play on the computer or whatever. anyway i ran across a study claiming the lack of unsupervised playtime is partially responsible for the mental health crisis and i feel vindicated someone else is saying it
Lol yeah it’s a much bigger conversation. Studies like the one you mentioned have been around for a long time. The education field has different definitions for supervision, from hand-over-hand instruction to broader proximity based supervision. I’m not familiar with any studies that claim unsupervised play (meaning adults are not responsible for the child at all) is partially responsible for the mental health crisis. I’ve read articles about the decline in unsupervised activities (walking to school/park/library, going to friends’ houses, playing around the neighborhood) leading to children feeling alienated (thanks capitalism). But I think that’s slightly different from what you mean. I am familiar with a large body of research about the benefits of ‘unstructured’ play, which is further expounded upon in many educational philosophies.
There’s also a legal requirements for schools to maintain clear lines of supervision of children at all times. And coming from someone who’s worked in childhood sexual abuse prevention, I’d rather make 100% sure all children’s and staff’s whereabouts are accounted for in school.
i guess i was probably referring to the second one, the idea being kids walk themselves to the store or play with the neighbor kids or whatever. i understand there are special pressures and circumstances in schools that i haven’t considered but idk. it’s been a long time since i was inside a school so all i can speak to is some faded memories
Parents sue the school district and try to get you fired for not protecting their child. Heaven forbid Johnny come home with a stuffy nose! It could be bronchitis! Or covid! Or cancer!
I knew a teacher who was threatened with that because she looked at a child who had lied to her while talking about a short story they were about to read where a character lies. Parents said the teacher was purposefully and publically shaming their kid – but no one knew about the lie and the story was on the course plan far in advance, but everyone had to get lawyers and fight it.
That’s whack.
My impression (from anecdotes) is that schools are infecting kids with covid all the time and the administrators will laugh at you or look at you funny if you ask them to provide adequate ventilation or air filtration
True