High school bans expensive jacket so poor kids don't feel bad

a reply to: tadaman
Can you afford a 1k jacket?
I expect everyone would wear what they liked........ if they could afford it. But just think how many homeless people you could cheer up with that money.

originally posted by: Itisnowagain
a reply to: tadaman
Can you afford a 1k jacket?
I expect everyone would wear what they liked........ if they could afford it. But just think how many homeless people you could cheer up with that money.

It isn't about what you can and can't afford. It's about people who have no business running your life telling you what you can and cannot do because what you may do isn't fair to others.

I mean, it's not like they were even worried that kids who might come to school with a jacket that expensive might have it stolen which, IMO, is a much more valid reason to try banning them from the school. No! It's ... "Oh, not every family could afford one of those, so we don't want those other kids to feel bad ..."

Tough! Not every kid will be able to afford everything, but that's part of life. If they really wanted their kids to all look the same, they needed to go with a school uniform dress code, not simply try to ban items on a line like this - one or two items by brand and because not everyone could afford to have one.

Lol!!

I worked for a brand leading toilet paper manufacturer, most expensive but

considered good value for money.

This same manufacturer made own label toilet rolls for supermarkets.... was

there anything different about them??

YES the outer wrapper.

NO the factory ran the same machines and fibre production as the brand leader.


The last laugh was on those thinking they were getting something of more value.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

No way would I give 1000 dollars to a homeless guy. If I could afford it I would love to wear it if I felt so inclined.

How dare anyone to assume what would upset me or others. Or where I should "donate" my extra money

a reply to: JAGStorm

I don't agree with a ban, but I do think paying that much for something just to show it off is kind of pointless. Guess that's how people always have been. These coats are made by manufacturers of clothing used in sub zero weather in the Alps and the Arctic circle and made to those standards. The trendies wearing them probably won't see temps much below freezing or expose them to snow because it might mess them up. Just like the folks driving Land Rovers and Mercedes SUVs that weave to miss manhole covers and the slightest bump. Silly.

originally posted by: Unruhestifter
a reply to: JAGStorm

Its the not the childrens fault they have deadbeat parents.

Why let poor students have their faces rubbed in it?

State school should be a equal playing field where children of all backgrounds can better themselves, where poorer students can be encouraged to do better than their dead beat parents.

Deadbeat? You'd have to be mentally ill to even consider spending £1000 on a coat, let alone on a fad/fashion trend one that'll only be warn for a few weeks then binned. Teaching kids to spend money wisely, the difference between wants and needs is far more important than spending two months rent on garment that even else thinks makes them look a complete twat in.

Parents should not be bullied into spending stupid money just so their kid fits in.
And children should not be conditioned to expect such expensive clothes and other things..........because it is just promoting materialism. No amount of money will buy happiness.

I will pay more or less to avoid clothing that has the branding prominently displayed. I hate advertising their stuff for free. G H Bass is fairly subdued compared to Columbia or The North Face. Carhartt makes great outerwear for working in, but the branding is turn off.

originally posted by: Itisnowagain
Parents should not be bullied into spending stupid money just so their kid fits in.
And children should not be conditioned to expect such expensive clothes and other things..........because it is just promoting materialism. No amount of money will buy happiness.

Bullied?!

So because something becomes trendy, you're being bullied into it? Hardly, this is what the word "no" is all about. Just walk away. Who cares if everyone else has it. Everyone else eats McD's three to four time a week too and weighs about 50 lbs or more than they should. Do you feel the need to keep pace with that trend? If not, why not? Aren't you being bullied into it to keep up with everyone else?

It's a garbage excuse for the weak-willed.

originally posted by: tjack
Good ol' near sighted social justice strikes again!

Gotta protect the children from reality for as long as possible so when they finally have to face it, what?

They're going to have some serious class shock when they go to university and see all the Chinese and Arab foreign students driving Maseratis.

originally posted by: trollz

"These coats cause a lot of inequality between our pupils,"

There you have it. That's what it's all about. Another "education" institution trying to indoctrinate children into the idea that everybody is equal no matter what, and if they're not, they should be forced to be.

Its not about SJW or ignoring reality.

I am a teacher. And poor kids KNOW they are poor and reminded every god dammed second of the day they are poor.
Most of them go home knowing their drunk deadbeat parents have little food on the table or could be evicted at a moments notice and those are the lucky ones. They know full damned well life is unfair and sucks and sure as hell don't need a "reality" check.

Is is the children fault they are in that situation? No! I am all for personal responsibility, but not for children that did not choose their situation.

School for some is the one place they can get away from the useless waste of oxygen they call parents.
School is also the place and ONLY chance they have of bettering themselves and not becoming the dregs of society their oxygen thief parents are
What they don't need in that 7 hours is more fortunate kids rubbing their faces in the dire situation they are in. Trust me they know there situation, they know life is unfair and don't need educating about that. What they DO NEED is a safe and secure environment with few distractions that's allows them to escape the poverty trap.


I'm am no wishy washy PC, social justice progressive. I don't do the gender crap, I don't call racism on stupid things, I don't force or even discuss my own politics and certainly don't penalize kids for having right wing views and I sure as hell don't pander to snowflakes. But I will do my uttermost to try and make a equal playing field for my students within school so when they leave they can honestly say they had as many chances education wise as the richer kids.

originally posted by: Itisnowagain
Parents should not be bullied into spending stupid money just so their kid fits in.
And children should not be conditioned to expect such expensive clothes and other things..........because it is just promoting materialism. No amount of money will buy happiness.

I agree with what you are saying, but even more so I believe in personal freedom. If someone wants to spend that on their kids, good for them. It will in now way make me want to spend that. Also to some 1K is nothing, to others that is a lot of money. I guess the school gets to decide. Right now it's a jacket, but like I said, when will it be a car, or a house etc.
These things are slippery slopes.

By the way, the best way to renounce materialism is to show kids, even though others may have it, it's ok if you don't, and you'll survive. We are basically saying both the kids and parents are incapable of that. What happens when they go to college?

originally posted by: Unruhestifter
a reply to: JAGStorm

Its the not the childrens fault they have deadbeat parents.

Why let poor students have their faces rubbed in it?

State school should be a equal playing field where children of all backgrounds can better themselves, where poorer students can be encouraged to do better than their dead beat parents.

That's true. Same with haircuts and dying your hair. I always had to get haircuts by my stepmom and when other kids had cool hair it felt like my deadbeat parents were getting rubbed in my face. So, no haircuts, and no dying your hair awesome colors.

I also felt the same way when my parents would pick me up in a crappy station wagon or i had to take the bus while other kids had their parents pick them up in a nice new SUV, and take them to mcdonalds and my after school snack was a box of raisins. So, the richer families will have to rent a normal looking car if they INSIST on parading around the school rubbing our deadbeat parents' deadbeatness in our faces. Or they can pick up their kid a few blocks down the street where my face will be safe from the severe rubbing.

Same with lunch. Some kids had to eat free school lunch and everyone knew who the free kids were... but some kids didn't have to eat that slop from the cafeteria (when i got to high school it wasnt that bad most of the time) because their parents packed them all the name brand Doritos and Pepsi with sandwiches made from meat and cheese that didnt come prepackaged and vacuum sealed, no, the guy at the deli freshly slices it from the primo selections... So, from now on everyone just eats the slop in the cafeteria.

Dont get me started with the kids who brought magazines, comic books, game boy, pets for show and tell (maybe just do away with show and tell), the nicer shoes they wore...

I mean, its like you said, why rub it in the poor kids faces?

They even do it with their speech...things they draw on scrap paper, words they write... Once a kid told a joke, and I didn't get it but everyone else did because it came from a movie that i could never have afforded to go see, but they all did. Let me tell you, that was Totally Unfair! It was totally unequal!

EVERYONE MUST BE EXACTLY EQUAL IN EVERY WAY!!!


Why not make some rules for speech and drawings and written words too? Once a kid was doodling in his binder, it was a Mercedes symbol... I felt like he had just slapped me from across the room with his privilege... In our perfect future world, that kid would've at the very least, received a stern warning. Of course you agree?

a reply to: ketsuko

Many parents are weak willed because they don't want little Johnny upset.

a reply to: Unruhestifter

Yeah, I get all that, but at the same time, it's also not the fault of more fortunate children that they are in better situations either.

"Sorry, little Johnny, but because your life doesn't suck, we have to ban some of the things that make it not suck, so little Joe over there feels like you're all having a sucky time together."

This is the problem with social justice. It seems to never seek to lift all boats together in its quest to equalize. Instead, it takes the most miserable and finds way to lower everyone else to that level.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

Those parents are the ones who raise the children who never grow up.

Say no a few times and stick to it and kids learn pretty darn quick. Of course, the older you let them get before you start this, the harder it is to establish that new regime.

Ours is pretty good with it though.

a reply to: JAGStorm
My son's high school had a strict uniform policy, business suits and overcoats all provided by the school, at cost to the parents of course. I spent more on uniform than if he had been able to wear his own clothes but it didn't stop bullying, everyone knew who the poor kids were, they just all looked the same during school hours.

a reply to: Unruhestifter

But I will do my uttermost to try and make a equal playing field for my students within school so when they leave they can honestly say they had as many chances education wise as the richer kids.

Your intentions are well but I feel you are doing these kids a huge disservice. You are not preparing them for the inequality of the real world. You are basically coddling them. My parents taught me that a pair of 300 dollars shoes gets you the same place as a 20 dollar pair. You & the schools are telling those kids their egos aren't strong enough to handle that fact. They can, I know this because the majority of my generation went through this. I dare say it actually might make some kids stronger in the long run!

a reply to: JAGStorm
Yep, my son was poorest in his school, he won a place in the selective institution aged 11, all his mate's dads were surgeons or airline pilots etc. He survived by being hard as # and on the rugby team.
Strangely though, all his rich mates envied me and his relationship and hardly knew their dads...I was like dad to loads of boys through his high school years.

a reply to: Unruhestifter

Trust me they know there situation, they know life is unfair and don't need educating about that.

How about this: Why stop with the students? How about all the teachers and administration wear a uniform and cheap shoes. Since most of the poor students parents can't afford cars, how about the teachers only take public transportation to work. Also they need to eat the free lunches, since we wouldn't want anyone to stand out with their rich people lunches.