If you have ever driven by a school early in the morning or early afternoon as students are heading to or from the building, perhaps you have noticed some of the attire worn by today’s youth. Or to be more exact, the lack of clothing.
As temperatures have plunged below zero, with wind chills making it minus-20 to minus-30 some mornings, it is always astonishing to see how much teenagers today seem to disregard the cold. On more than one occasion, you can see a student walking down the sidewalk, or standing outside in front of the school, with nothing more than a sweatshirt. No hat, no gloves. They are too cool for that.
Personally, I’ve witnessed countless teenagers exit school buildings at the end of the school day, carrying their jackets in their arms. Apparently, today’s youth feel immune to the effects of Mother Nature. It’s a mystery to me because normally I am sitting inside my vehicle, with the hood to my parka pulled over my head, gloves tucked neatly under the coat sleeves to keep the cold out and the heater cranking as high as it will go.
It is no wonder so many kids come down with colds. Or maybe that is their motivation in the first place? “Hey, if I am sick, I don’t have to go to school.”
Houlton Elementary School has a simple policy for the younger students. If there is snow on the ground, ski pants, hats and gloves are a must. In addition, if the temperature dips below zero, the students do not go outside.
This is probably pretty standard for younger children in all school districts and it’s a good plan. It is not so easy to mandate such things to pre-teens and teenagers though. Some might think that teachers prefer to keep the kids inside during recess, but I can assure you the opposite is the truth. Kids have to find an outlet for all of that pent-up energy and running around at recess is the best way to accomplish it.
It’s tough not to turn this into a “back in my day” type of column, but in this case it seems appropriate. I seem to recall many an elementary school day when we played outside, on large mountains of snow playing “King of the Mountain” or some other foolish game. There were also many times when a large patch of ice in behind Houlton Elementary School turned into an impromptu game of body bowling. Said game almost always led to some kid falling on the ice, hitting his head and getting a big egg on it that we all just had to touch. And yes, I had my fair share of lumps.
Today’s youth seem to have little interest in bundling up to stay warm outside. I once suggested to my youngest daughter that she could put on a layer of “long-johns” under her pants when she went ice skating or played outside. The look I received was one of such irritation that you would think I had asked her to go clean the toilet or something.
Of course this is the same child that likes to run around our house in short-sleeved shirts, while my wife and I have three layers on, so that may play into it as well.
Brutally cold weather is supposed to continue through the week, so chances are there will be plenty of opportunities to see kids strolling around without coats. And chances are, it will only be a matter of time before the shorts and T-shirts come out. I’ll look for mine in June.
Joseph Cyr is a staff writer for the Houlton Pioneer Times. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect that of the newspaper. He can be reached at pioneertimes@nepublish.com or 532-2281.
