Letter Jackets
 

This thread is inspired by AGDee's post in the new random thread.

My oldest son started sixth grade this year. This is the first sixth grade class at the school (it was previously just seventh and eighth grades). He made the Cross Country team, one of only a handful of sixth graders to do so.

I want to get him a letter jacket. When I was in junior high (1979-1982 - back before the wheel was invented), all the kids had letter jackets, not just the athletes, so I thought this would be a good idea for my son.

I spoke with the principal and she said it had never been done at the middle school before, but they were a lot smaller before with just the seventh and eighth graders there. She said it might be "neat" to start a new tradition. I asked the coach and he said he had not seen it at the school, but really didn't say yes or no to the idea.

What do you guys think? Should I get him one for Christmas? It would be simple, just a dark green jacket with a chenille "S" on the front (his name embroidered on the letter), the XC symbol on the sleeve and the school's name (done in tackle twill" on the back - just like my old jacket.

I still have both my junior high and high school jacket, and both my sons think they are cool. While also think it would be neat to start something at this school, if my son is the only one with such a jacket, I don't want him to face any flack from other kids, as we know kids at that age can be cruel.

Thoughts?

I think it's a great idea! We never had letter jackets until high school butI see no harm in having letter jackets for middle school. One thing that may keep it from catching on amongst the general school population is the cost...letter jackets are pricey these days. Even at my kids high school there are not as many kids who wear them as there used to be.

I would hesitate on doing it, for the reasons you mentioned. Kids can be cruel, and I think that if your sons are the only ones walking in with letter jackets, it could open them up to some not so nice comments.

It's a nice idea, but if they don't have letterman jackets at the school, I think your sons could face some flack.

I agree with this, if the school starts to do it for everyone, like your experience was, that's one thing. But if a 6th grader comes in wearing a letter jacket that other kids may only be used to seeing on their brothers or sisters who are juniors or seniors in high school, I can imagine it getting a poor reception. Particularly from some 8th graders who may have been on the track team for longer and don't have any kind of letter jacket to show for it.

Wow...I didn't realize that letter jackets caused so much anxiety! Before this thread, I had almost forgotten about letter jackets!

We had them in middle school and high school; usually people bought them during their first year so they could get the maximum amount of wear out of them. I didn't have one because I wasn't in band or any sports, so I'm not sure how expensive they were.

Let me clarify something - in junior high, no one was given a letter jacket by the school, not even the athletes. Parents bought the jackets, the chenille stuff and tackle twill lettering themselves. In high school, parents bought the letter jackets and paid for the lettering, but the chenille letters and emblems were provided by the school (if you lettered in a sport or were a cheerleader - non-lettering athletes paid for everything themselves).

That's kind of similar how it was in my high school. Students got the letter as an award after their first varsity season, and pins (for each sport) for each successive letter. You had to buy the actual jackets at a local awards shop, and someone (either parent or student) would have to sew the letter onto the jacket.

At my son's highschool, you bought the jacket, the school gave you a letter, and if you lettered in more than one sport they gave you the little embroidered sport thing (like a small football, or crossed lacrosse sticks) that you have sewn onto the big letter. Then all added things like your number, your name, any awards (all district, etc.) any team awards (district champs, regionals, etc.) you bought and had sewn on. All told, throughout the 3 years, that darn letter jacket cost hundreds of dollars. The jacket is around $200 with real leather sleeves, and then each additional chenille patch runs around $20.

My son proudly wore it in highschool, but it is now shoved into the back of his closet, never to see the light of day again. His kids will probably get a kick out of it in the FAR distant future :)

How about taking your idea to your school's PTA. PTO or booster club? They might be interested in selling jackets as a fundraiser. That way, all the kids who want one would have a chance to purchase one, and your kid wouldn't be the stand out.

It could be a sweatshirt or something less expensive than a traditional high school letter jacket. As srmom said..those things are incredibly expensive! Somewhere around $500 in my neighborhood. I was surprised that our high school doesn't award JV letters. At least when you could get one with a JV letter, the kid could wear it throughout HS. At this school only the seniors have them...so it's a pricey high school fashion statement IMO.

At my middle school, the football players had...not exactly letter jackets, but similar....and the coaches forbade them from letting girls wear them.
It was a pretty big deal.

At my US school, team letters were awarded under specific criteria and jealously garded against unauthorized use. Sweaters (with sleeve rings for multiple awards in the same sport) were for lettermen. Jackets were reserved for state championship team members and were provided by the school). No one would dare wear a school letter that had not been earned and awarded by the rector. Academic letters were so hard to earn that they were highly respected as well. Sweaters only, no jackets for academics. Sports letters were block capitols. Academic letters were Old English Script.

At my UK school one could win colours which could take the form of a cap or a tie in sporting colours. During normal school days one wore the usual school uniform but could wear coloured rings woven into the top of one's socks to show your team/organization affiliation.

I agree with the comments that wear of a school jacket with a team letter might not go down too well. Your school's letter is something you should earn. It really should not be a fashion statement but a reward of recognition for participation, skill, and effort.

My school gave us letters, but no one bought the jackets!

It was big before my high school merged with a nearby town - after everything changed, though, no one bought them.

I have about 800000 letters though - they just gave us a knew one each time we lettered (which I never really understood).

I have never heard of anyone wearing a letterman's jacket w/o "earning" the letter first. It's not like the class ring where just anyone can buy one. The schools I am familiar with (being military my kids went to 3 different HS's in 3 different states) guarded their "letters" and only gave them out at an award ceremony. You couldn't just buy them off the street. The academic letters were given to the top 5% of the students in each year group. I see this as similar to non-greeks wearing greek letter t-shirts on campus.

I've never seen it done at the middle school level. I agree with KsigKid, if it hasn't been done at your son's school, its probably best not to do it. Middle school kids can be CRUEL and if other kids don't have it, your son might not even wear it.

At my high school, some organizations/sports just gave you the letter, while others gave you both. If you were top 5 in the class, you got the academic letter jacket. My best friend and I were football managers, so when the football team got their letterman jackets, we got ours as well.

I used it in high school, and now its collecting dust in the back of my closet.

Ditto here, as well, unless you go this route:
You would also get some degree of uniformity.