Weather Resistant Kids

I heard recently of an elementary school meeting in which the discussion focused on playground safety, especially with the winter rainy weather. They came up with some new rules, certain areas one isn’t allowed to run around, etc. During that meeting, someone said to everyone else’s shock and disbelief that they were some places in the country where the students weren’t allowed outside for recess if it was raining. This was all relayed to me by my co-worker who has a daughter still in elementary school. She told me this last bit of information with a ‘can-you-believe-that?’ tone in her voice. I informed her that where I grew up, that is exactly what happened. In Grafflin, if it was raining during recess, we were oftentimes doomed to stay in the cafeteria where they’d play us some film we’d already watched during the last rainy recess. When I told her this, she said she guessed it made sense with thunderstorms, but I said, it wasn’t just during thunderstorms. If we were already outside and it started to drizzle, the teachers who were on recess duty would inevitably blow their whistles and we’d have to line up and go inside. She said if this were the case in Wrangell, the kids would never get a chance to go outside during school. When I asked though what the kids did in the rain, she said, “play.”

What were they so worried about in Chappaqua? That we would melt if touched by rain? Perhaps they worried that we’d get wet and eventually sick or would slip and fall. Do the kids here in Wrangell have stronger immune systems? Better traction on their shoes?

Rain is a way of life here in Southeast. Unlike most people’s perceptions of Alaska, I don’t live under an excess of snow. It has actually only snowed once since I’ve been here, and that quickly turned into dirty slush when it rained a few days later. I do carry an umbrella almost everyday but have not gotten around yet to buying those brown rubber boots that seem to be a staple around here.

I’d like to think that if I were a kid, I wouldn’t mind playing in rain, but it actually doesn’t sound too appealing. I mean, everything would’ve been wet – the bars, the swings, the sand box. What would we’ve done? I don’t even think I liked going outside for recess even after it just rained. Because everything was still wet.