Going back to school this year will be different – but that doesn’t mean we can’t make the best of it!
Have a look at the different ways in which classrooms around the world are innovating and making an unconventional situation fun.
By making social distancing fun with cool hats:
By transforming the scary looking desks with protections shields into trucks:
By reminding the children how nice it is to see them and each other again. And each pupil getting their own materials means no more fight over who gets to use what first!
We all want to go back to normality: going out as we please, hugging, breathing without worry. But seeing as this might take a little longer than expected the next best thing is to be prepared for the new circumstances.
People have an amazing ability to adapt – children in particular excel at this. So on this back to school don’t panic and don’t worry about what you can’t control, simply adapt and make the best of an odd, unexpected, unpredictable situation.
Do you have any ideas to make the start of school this year easier and more fun for children? Let us know!
At My Nametags, we know
how quickly children grow and how fast families can get through clothes.
Whether it’s stubborn stains or growth spurts, the turnover of clothing in
families can feel very high.
However, recent figures
from WRAP suggest that extending the lifespan of clothes by just three months
could result in a 5-10 percent reduction in carbon, water, and waste footprints.
So, to try to understand this issue a little better, we conducted research into
parents’ attitudes towards second-hand clothing for their children.
THE
FINDINGS
To our surprise, our
study found that more than one in 10 UK parents throw their children’s uniforms
away once they have outgrown them, even if they are still in a wearable
condition.
When it comes to
damaged items, almost half of parents said they would prefer to throw the
garment away than attempt to fix it. What’s more, over half of families own
clothing that they have never worn.
It seems parents still
consider new to be best as 81 percent always buy their children’s school
uniforms new. There are several reasons behind this, with many suggesting it is
easier (31 percent) and that they want their kids to have the latest things (19
percent). In addition, nearly half (41 percent) said they don’t like the
thought of their children wearing previously owned clothes.
While it seems that
some proactive measures are being taken to make clothing last longer, with
almost a third of parents buying uniforms in bigger sizes so their kids can
grow into them, our study found that school uniforms are still being replaced,
on average, every 10 months – the equivalent to one uniform for every school
year.
Interestingly, despite
some parents in the UK adopting a throwaway attitude to uniforms, the research
did suggest that parents are more likely to donate their old clothes to charity
shops than they are to purchase second-hand clothing. In fact, over half of
parents donate uniforms to charity shops once they have been outgrown,
suggesting that there is a disconnect between the number of people who want to
give clothing a new life, and those that actually do.
WHAT
THE EXPERTS SAY
Commenting on parents’
attitudes towards buying second-hand, Dr Jo Hemmings, Behavioural Psychologist,
said: “There are a number of reasons why parents are reluctant to purchase second-hand
uniforms for their children and continue to buy new year on year.
“Firstly, the word
‘second-hand’ has the connotation that somehow parents are not doing the best
by their children. ‘Brand new’ has much more positive connotations. In addition
to this, parents know that children can be very judgemental of each other in
terms of clothing.
“In both instances, the
parents’ attitudes towards second-hand clothing stem from their inherent sense
of pride – a fear that people will assume that they can’t provide for their
child effectively if they can’t dress them in a brand-new school uniform. This
type of pride, which is primarily driven by other people’s opinions, is known
as ‘hubristic pride’ and adds very little positive value to life.
“However, there is a
second type of pride, ‘authentic pride’, which is centred around the fulfilment
and achievements of yourself and those around you. This has a much more
positive value and, importantly, cannot be achieved by wearing a new blazer. It
can, however, be achieved by teaching children valuable lessons about the
environment and the fact that the clothes they wear have no impact on their
ability to ‘fit in’ or to be successful in life.”
STRETCHING
THE LIFESPAN
With awareness of the
environmental impact of our clothing growing, it is important for us all to
consider how our attitudes towards the disposal and re-use of clothes could be
affecting the planet. Clothing which has been cared for can and should be
reused, and with a little help from a name tag, can become another child’s
personalised piece.
This year’s back to school, while long awaited, may also be the cause of some concern. How many measures against covid-19 will schools realistically be able to implement – will children respect social distancing? Will they bother sanitising when you know at times you struggle to make them wash their hands?
It will most certainly be a whole new experience for both you and your children. People have become increasingly aware of how quickly and easily germs can spread. With that in mind, we start to think about what exactly our children do that could be putting them at risk, and sharing items is at the top of the list. Stationery items children bring to school: pens, colouring pencils, rulers, calculators are amongst the most commonly shared items between children. But sharing is no longer caring, now it means circulating more germs.
Back to School- Labelling all of your children’s school supplies is vital
Labelling your children’s things has always been useful to help reduce lost property, but now using name tags can help in another, more important way. Being easily able to identify one’s items will encourage children to keep to their own things and help reduce the spread of germs. They can be fun and colourful while also helping your children be safe.
This pandemic has bought with it a new perspective on things, it has made us aware of the places we really cannot go without visiting, the people we really need around us. Shown us how nice slowing down can be and how resourceful we are coming up with alternatives to make sure we can continue. Chances are that as a parent, you cannot wait for your children to go back to school but we cannot forget that we still need to be prudent and do the best we can to care for our parents, siblings, children, friends, neighbours and everyone around us. If something as simple as labelling things can help, do it!
