I don't have a kid, but seems like the society make a big deal "going back to school"?

Question

and I didn't grow up here. All the TV ads these days are gearing towards the back to school sales. Are parents here really get their kids all new cloth, new computer, new backpack, new stationary every year after the summer? is it so important to kids to wear new cloths going back to school? is your kid be judged by how he/she dressed in school? what about that thing called "study"??

Answer 1

I actually have a kid and I agree.  It's totally stupid.  I buy clothes all year long, on sale, in larger sizes.  So my kid has a revolving closet, because he grows so fast.  As for buying the school required supply list, we do make an event out of it, because each year the list is different and keeps getting bigger.  Other than that I try to get a few years out of a back pack and recycle art supplies when I can.  Retailers have turned it into an other holiday. . . and lots of people take the bate!  Use you brain folks...you don't have to buy

Answer 2

It's a big deal! Summers ending, and everyones getting back to school. New cloths are just needed, computers are for older children (college) new backpacks (school needed) stationary for writing... Yes children are judged on how they dress.

Don't go ranting on parents and their children when you havent gone though it!

Answer 3

For those who have children in school, Back to School is kind of like a "new year." The schools give us lists of supplies the children need to have so we have to purchase them and sometimes we don't get the lists until the summer, so that is the time we buy what's on the list.

New clothes: I don't get the kids a whole new wardrobe. Their current clothes don't shred in the closet the night before the first day of school or anything. I get them to try on their clothes and determine what they need. They do all three get new sneakers as their old ones have usually worn out by the end of the summer. Other than that I don't do it evenly for all three. My five year old son outgrew a lot of his pants, but is okay for shirts as I buy them big, so he got three new pair of pants. My daughter's jeans were all too short by last spring so she cut them off into bermudas or capris for summer and has all new jeans for this year. My teenage son got a new pair of sneakers and new underwear, but other than that has plenty of tees and jeans and cargo shorts for now and will get some new pants later in the fall.

They need comfortable clothes that fit well and the proper supplies in order to study.

Answer 4

Retailers are in the business of building support for a "buying binge."  But, your question is actually interesting.  I do not remember any need to buy clothing to return to school.  I guess it depends on the social significance of school to the typical child.  I never attended a school that had any breaks but the 30 minute lunch hour.  I would not want my children to have a buyer's mentality in general.  Usually, we buy clothes when our child grows.  School is not a social event and is immaterial to the decision.  

Answer 5

well i usually buy my kids a few new outfits for school mostly because either they grew out of it and considering that it is still summer and hot, most of their summer clothes are worn out from playing outside all summer long. usually i spend more during winter though, by that time a lot of their clothes definitely don't fit.

as for school supplies, paper, notebooks, pencils, well that's a must and many require different school supplies as they enter a higher grade. Teachers send out letters before school starts with the supplies they will be needing for their class. if my kids' backpacks are still in very good condition, then I hold off on that. there's no need to spend an extra $20-$30. unless there's a character/actor on it (hanna montana, dora, spongebob, high school musical) that they outgrew and no longer are interested in.

Answer 6

It's not society, it's the retailers wanting to make money.  They do it during the holidays too.  

Answer 7

Not all of us make a major issue out of going back to school.  I do get my kids a few new things but that is mostly because they've either outgrown or have worn out the clothing they usually wear and because of the different trends my girls do get new folders and when they wear out, new back packs.  My 11 year old has a green back pack she has had since she was 9, her favorite color is green, and right now she is into wild animals so the folders in her green binder depict wild animals.  My 8 year old like the color red and just got a new "lipstick" red back pack and has a red binder with folders of differing colors for different subjects.  My 5 year old has all of the "comic" version of "Captain Jack Sparrow"  

Answer 8

Companies that are supplying things for back to school want to squeeze every possible sale from someone that they can. That's why all the ads are jammed with back to school deals and sales.

I get two new outfits (one for the 1st day of school, and one for picture day), new supplies (the supply lists vary from grade to grade) and new shoes (my feet grow fast, and my other shoes wear out easily). But I don't think anyone should be getting a new computer every year.

And if you get a durable backpack, then you don't need one every year.

Answer 9

My cousins (12 and 9) buy new clothes before school starts so it's no big deal. They get new backpacks too, and they get the supplies their teacher wants them to have. That'll be the week that school starts. But I think nowadays, kids judge other kids by the clothes they wear, that's not right at all. Society sucks, it's all about money, money, money. Makes you wish you could've done something to change the world.

Answer 10

Back to school is a time where kids gear up more for seeing their friends than to study. With the way the economy is right now, every store is competing for the money that Back to School will bring. As the computer goes, that is more geared to the late High School/ College group. Yes, about 80% of them will get a new computer this year of some sort.

Most kids will get new clothes for at least there first day back to school. 1st day back is more like a fashion show than anything.

Kids are judged on EVERYTHING now days, including clothes. I don't know if you remember being in school, but it is so much worse now.  

Answer 11

No it is not necessary to buy a new computer every year. Why would you? What is wrong with the old one? Yes it is necessary to buy new clothes for the upcoming school year. They cannot keep wearing there summer clothes through winter. Plus the clothes they had last winter might be too small. Children to grow fast, so yes they need new clothes. I am not saying buying a ton of clothes just enough to get them through Christmas then you can buy them some more for Christmas. Yes school supplies are important , you need to buy those. It's not about the retailer pushing them onto customers. They always have them and are not on sale. Not at my Walmart Supercenter anyway. They may seem like they are on sale just because they put them out in the middle of the aisles and have a special section for them, but they are not on sale. We have to have them because it is required by our schools I know to go to Walmart and get your list from your school and go get what you need for your childs grade. So whoever said on here that it is not important to buy that stuff is baloney.

Answer 12

It's just all about money. It's companies marketing the first day of school as a way to make profit.

Answer 13

It was very common for me to get new clothes (for school and the winter) right before school starts. I would also get supplies: Notebooks, calculator, pens, pencils, etc. at that time.

Retailers are pushing the back-to-school sales right no, since, because of the economy, sales are down sharply.

On the other hand, my wife always got her "school" clothes in November ... when fall and winter clothes make their way to the clearance racks.

Answer 14

some, not every kid get everything, but its often a good time to restock on suplies needed

in all reality where i grew up though we got most what we needed in school (notebooks, regular pencils and rubber), and these days they even get sponsored backpacks many places, a backpack last more then one year though so not new every year

also as in oposition to US, in europe (at least some places) there was a break between each class for the kids to get out draw some fresh air and recoup, generaly there are 10 min breaks between each class, and then a longer half hour break in the middle of the school day to eat in.

i dont have kids yet, and i'll def be back to europe before they are school age, because i have no belif in US school system by what i heard, and my BFs stories of it. Education is important.

Answer 15

Well, I'll say this much, that the habit of when you're a little kid and using most of the supplies your parents bought you or losing them doesn't really change once you get older.

The reason why you get a new backpack is often your old one ripped from so many books and heavy materials, last year, because of all the studying that I did and all of the books that the teachers handed out, on an average day, my backpack weighed 30 pounds! The handle at the top ripped, same with the straps. And the bottom was really worn too.

With stationary, and pencils, and other things, I know most kids tend to use most of that up in a school year. Especially as you get older and it starts to get to a point where kids'll forget something and then they'll ask to borrow something and won't return it.

But as an earlier answerer stated, going back to school is like a 'new year'. It's when you go through, take inventory of what you already have, check it off on the list of what you need, and get what you don't. Because it's really hard to go through school without pencils, or paper, or a backpack but having everything else.

The same thing goes with clothes, I'm not sure about everything else, but I know that in my family, in August, what we do is look through all our old clothes, take out the ones we've out grown or just don't wear and we donate them to charity. Then you clean up, find out what it seems like you'll need, and get that. That's the main reason that I see. Though, I can see another one, I know that as you get older and closer to graduating, and even in younger grades, it can get tiring. And I have a feeling at least one or two parents have used the back-to-school clothes as incentive to get their kids to go back to school. It might not work so well with boys, but some of the girls might like that incentive.

I have to say, though, I don't get the whole computer thing, maybe it's my area, but in the schools around here, the school provides computers and no one uses them in class. They ask you to buy flash drives, or at least have one to bring, but most of the time, no one uses a computer. And if they do, it's often taken away from them because all the kids I know who got them were emailing answers or something and got suspended.

I think the main thing, though, is that the going back to school thing is relatable to a lot of the public, since the average, in America, is 1 (And some amount of decimal point) children and so they know that either it's going to happen, or it is happening where their children are going back to school. Parents freak out, realize they don't have everything that their child needs, runs out to get something even as little as a protractor, and then they get side-tracked by other things the store offers and there you go, the shops get what they want, parents spending way more money than they need to probably on something that's not related to school at all.

Hope I helped,

---Linzz.

Answer 16

i always got new clothes, school supplies, backpacks. in the younger years kids grow out of clothes or ruin them over the summer. all of my friends got new stuff too.  i think its just the thing to do.