He couldn't sleep last night
By Rocketj1
@rocketj1 (6955)
United States
January 13, 2009 7:04am CST
My kids (ages 10 and 14) both came home from school yesterday talking about how they were not going to have school today because there was going to be this really huge snow storm and on and on...... We watched the weather reports and checked on the situation periodically, but to be honest, I really didn't think it would be happening. Actually the forecast looks more likely for them to be home from school on Wed. or Thurs. Certainly there is a lot of snow coming, but things tend to blow over us. Still....they were hopeful.
Was there school today? YES! My son was up before everyone else, optimistically flipping through the TV stations waiting for cancellations. He said that he hardly slept all night. This week He and a friend have been downloading music and making montages with photos of heroes and villains on the computer. He then uploads them to youtube. It's all they can think about and I believe that this was why he was so excited about the chance of being home from school. He was in agony this morning about having to go!
The part of all this that bothers me is the fact that all the teachers in school were talking about a show day! They re-planned their lessons accordingly. They warned the kids consistently throughout the day about the impending STORM! My question is: Why do they do this? I lived through the many snowstorms of the 70s when I was in school. My teachers never tormented us with "weather warnings". I think that this is very distracting to the kids. What is the point in telling them these things? If they need to change their lesson plans accordingly, why do the children need to even know about it? Just do it. The kids would be none the wiser. What do you think? Does this happen at your child's school?
6 people like this
13 responses
@Humbug25 (12540)
•
13 Jan 09
Hey there rocketj1
I am lucky that my kids are only 3, 5 and 8 and they still really enjoy school though I know the novelty will wear off soon! All over the holidays I had my middle son asking me every day 'Have we got school tomorrow mummy?' It was nice to be able to tell him one day 'yes'!! LOL 
He is excited this week because his gym class starts back again! We don't have the volume of snow that you do over there so there is rarly any such thing as snow days and yes I do think it is wrong for the teachers to wind the kids up like that. That can make life very difficult for parents! My kids are on a need to know basis, when they need to know things then I will tell them or else they get excited and wake up like 5.30 in the morning for a week before the event!!! 
He is excited this week because his gym class starts back again! We don't have the volume of snow that you do over there so there is rarly any such thing as snow days and yes I do think it is wrong for the teachers to wind the kids up like that. That can make life very difficult for parents! My kids are on a need to know basis, when they need to know things then I will tell them or else they get excited and wake up like 5.30 in the morning for a week before the event!!! 
@Humbug25 (12540)
•
13 Jan 09
Wow that is great!! I love the snow but we only get it a lot like every 10 years or so and then everything stops because we don't know how to cope with it! LOL When I was living in NJ my bedroom was in the basement and I remember that my room didn't see any light for about 2 months because the snow came up past the window, but I loved all the snow it was great!!
1 person likes this
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
13 Jan 09
that sounds like my daughter! she is 15 and it was snowing and blowing some outside and that was the first thing she asked me. of course, she wants to go to school (not to work, perish the thought, but to hang out with friends!!)
our school board makes a decision at 6 am for the day as they do not send kids home during the day.
2 people like this
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
13 Jan 09
I loved the photo of your children - now if I could just see their faces I am sure that I would love it more! LOl. We always had to go to school in the snow. My eldest sister made the path and th middle siter herld on to her coat and then I held on the middle sister's coat. Freezing but we had to go. The only time they let us homw was when the water in the toilet bowls were frozen! We just loved that when it happened. Blessings
2 people like this
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
13 Jan 09
This happened to my kids just before xmas, snow had been forecast and it had been forecast pretty heavily for our area overnight. When my kids came out of school they were going on that they were not in school the next day, I said what do you mean? and they said that the teachers had told them that there would be no school the next day because of the snow that was coming. I had to tell them that it had not got here yet and it might not do!! It did snow but not as heavy as predicted, just a smattering and so I had two very disappointed kids, I was really cross at the teachers for telling the kids that they would be off school.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
13 Jan 09
I've never heard of that happening in our schools, but I agree with you. Why get the kids hopes up? None of us can predict the weather. Even the weather man on TV can be wrong sometimes. And you never know what the superintendent will decide. Here in central NY we get a ton of school closings. The only time they HAVE to close schools is if the temperature is 25 below with wind chill. Other than that it's up to the individual superintendents of each district. Many times even if roads are bad they'll call for school to stay open. That's only because we're only allowed X amount of snow days, and if we have to go over that point, they make it up elsewhere. I've heard them threaten to shorten our spring or summer vacation due to the fact that we had too many snow days. They don't like doing that, so they'll try to keep schools open as much as possible. We've had like maybe 3 closings so far this school year. I think we get like 10 total before they start taking vacation days away.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
13 Jan 09
Here they definitly count days. They avoid it by calling a delay when weather is bad. We've probably had 5 or 6 delays of 1 or 2 hours each time. Seems at least once a week they have a delay or closing, or both. I think we're about to get hit with some really cold weather, so we might be getting more. I just hope school doesn't close tomorrow. Tomorrow is my daughter's dance lessons, and she missed them last week because school was closed, and the 2 weeks before that for Christmas vacation. She's antsy to get back to dance.
1 person likes this
@rocketj1 (6955)
• United States
13 Jan 09
Wow! I think our limit is 5 days. We're at 3 already and this week looks like it could be a weather mess! Last year they added a few days to the end of the year. Some districts here are adding 15 more minutes to the school day in order to avoid that. I guess in my state, they count actual school hours instead of days.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
13 Jan 09
of course u know i don't have kids in school but people drive me nuts talking about the weather all the time. it's like they are posseessed when i was working i use to swear i was going to put a sign on my mirror at the beauty sho "don't talk to me about the waether"" i got so tired og that conversation after about 10 or 12 times aday. children don't need to hear it in school either. that is not why they are there!!
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
13 Jan 09
who is this dude azay20. got an answer from him on your discussion. made no sence??
1 person likes this
@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
13 Jan 09
Predicting snow days in advance is a lesson in futility...lol. I grew up in New England in the 70's. I remember school being called due to an expected blizzard, and not receiving a flake of snow. For the next predicted storm, school was not called, the storm hit late morning and the road were nearly impassible for the buses bringing kids home. Of course the superintendant would receive a 'blizzard' of calls anytime he made the wrong decision.
If the teachers are telling kids that there IS going to be a snow day, then their wrong. On the other hand, if they're telling kids what to study IF there's a snow day, then they are correct - although most kids aren't going to study on a 'freebie' day off like that. I never did.
I agree that teachers should just change their lesson plans accordingly. Plan for an 'activity day' for the day in question and put the normal stuff off for a day or so.
1 person likes this
@rocketj1 (6955)
• United States
13 Jan 09
Thanks:) I grew up in Michigan in the 70s so I totally relate to what you've said. Didn't we get a lot of snow back then? It would fall at the beginning of the winter and it never let up. This winter is starting to remind me of those "good old day"!
1 person likes this
@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
13 Jan 09
You guys have had a lot of snow this year. Any time you have extra, please send it south to Oklahoma. I'd love to see a foot of snow. All we ever seem to get here is ice. You'd think the city would have a few sanding trucks...but no! We had one ice storm last year where schools were closed for a week because there was no way for the town to treat the side roads.
1 person likes this
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
13 Jan 09
I know, my kids come home all the time, telling us there might not be school. So far it has only been 2 days, they have had lots of 2 hour delays. I don't know why they tell them that.
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
13 Jan 09
That is a pet peeve of mine as well. Seems that whenever a big storm is predicted the teachers tell the kids that they probably won't have school. They pretty much count on it and it does affect their sleeping. The let down is huge when they discover that they do have school after all.
@sudalunts (5523)
• United States
27 Jan 09
The weather is supposed to be bad where I live starting this evening. I am actually responding three weeks after you posted this discussion. I remember when I was a child, I used to do the same thing. I would be so excited about the thought of not going to school the next day because of the weather. Then wake up in the morning, and there is nothing there.
I have done the same as an adult too, not lose sleep, but run to the grocery store, stocking up on goodies, thinking that we would be snowed in, preparing to be home from work the next day, only to wake up and there is nothing.
Then go to work, and by noon, you end up leaving work, because he weather is getting bad.
@Fortunata (1135)
• United States
13 Jan 09
Heh heh, sounds like the teachers wanted a snow day, too. In my opinion, kids are out of school more than they are in school, especially where I live. We had this old codger that ran the school system with an iron thumb, and we would have snow up to our knees, and he wouldn't close school. Now if somebody farts, they're close the schools here. Ridiculous. And then with the 'in-service' days, that's more days the kids are off. Heck, kids even get Columbus Day off now, and we never got that day off when I was going to school! Just my opinion.
@jesssp (2712)
• Canada
13 Jan 09
I can't answer in terms of my kids because I don't have any. I do remember that when I was in school there was never an actual 'snow day' where the school was closed - and we live in the north. If the weather was really nasty then the school buses wouldn't run, but that was it.
I have really noticed that the extreme weather warnings have gotten a little ridiculous. When we were kids a heavy snowfall warning meant that we were going to get two or three feet of snow. Now it seems like it there's a 60% chance of flurries they slap a heavy snowfall warning on there. They even apply them to our area when the weather is nowhere near us! I guess it's just another way to boost TV ratings and website traffic, but it just gets people all worked up for no reason.
1 person likes this
@savak03 (6684)
• United States
13 Jan 09
Where my grandkids go to school we have already had one snow day but we didn't have any snow. We also had a snow day because of rain but it had stopped raining the day before. My daughter explains that if it snows at all on top of the mountain they will close the school because the buses can't get up there. This was apparently the same reason they closed the school because of the rain. In my opinion I believe that only a small number of the schools population live on the mountain so why close the school for the whole student body when most of them would have no trouble getting to school? It's not like it happens that often so the kids affected could just have an absence. They could even call it an excused absence because the weather is not the child's fault. I bet the parents that live up there don't get to stay home from work just because they had a few snow flurries.
1 person likes this
@jarnold51 (124)
• United States
13 Jan 09
OK. I've read all the responses and as a teacher and former administrator (on my break, of course), I must respond. First, most of my colleagues will warn the children to be aware of the possibility because of the large number of students who come to school when there is a snow day. Many times there are kids at school who are "dropped off" and no one is there to care for them. Snow days have a lot to do with transportation, bus schedules and other "outside" constraints. Who wants to hear about kids or parents having serious accidents trying to get to school? And if the buses can't reach the remote areas, then why would those who live close get preferential treatment and get more education? Also, many teachers drive a great distance to school and if the teachers can't get there, then how can we expect substitutes to get there? Most of the schools in the US have snow days "built in" their calendars. Sure, it would be great if we don't have to take them. Then we get an occasional Friday off in April or May, which I, for one, certainly need (also in the calendars).
As for teachers telling the kids there's going to be a snow day, in my experience kids hear what they want to hear and forget to report "there may be" or "if" when telling their parents. The bottom line is that parents need to be cognizant of what's going on in the weather and their kids' schools and care about their students' safety.
1 person likes this
