[Olog-hai]

During President Obama’s first winter in Washington, he complained when his daughters’ school closed for bad weather: “We’re going to have to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town.” …

Meanwhile, it was the teachers’ unions that insisted on closing the schools where?—Chicago. Guess that is what “flinty Chicago toughness” really means.

[sickoflibs]

Same thing here in Maryland, they close on forcasts before the first flake comes down.

They didn’t have school buses back then in 1882.

If Laura Angles got lost in a snow drift till spring that was just Maw and Paws problem not the schools.

If the bus crashes now in snow and ice that’s a huge lawsuit.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

And I believe a couple of people died.

But who cares?

We are rough and tough.

Those kids froze proud that they weren't wimps.

[toast]

It was -27F in Minneapolis on Monday morning.
Little Johnny waiting at the bus stop for a bus that isn’t coming due to gelled up diesel fuel.
You’re asking for trouble if you don’t cancel school.

[Lizavetta]

"Breaking a path is hard work, I know," said Laura, and suddenly she and Martha were smiling to each other, a friendly smile that made Laura feel as if teaching school were easy.

I have read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books a hundred times and the bolded words are simply not in the books.

[Sacajaweau]

http://climate.umn.edu/pdf/mn_winter_1887-1888.pdf

[MARTIAL MONK]

They didn’t close the schools January 12, 1888. Hundreds died in the “Childrens’ Blizzard”.

[Ramius]

Some years back there was a winter power outage at my grandmas place. It was expected to last for at least a week. Grandma wouldn’t come to moms house... So my sister went to stay with her to make sure she would be OK. She awoke there the first morning and grandma already had a robust fire going in the fireplace stove. Hot coffee was ready and she was prepping eggs and bacon to cook up on the fire.

Yeah... She was gonna be OK. She said “I lived the first fifty years of my life without power”. For her having the power go out was about as inconvenient as having the cable go out.

[PGR88]

I remember when I was in first grade, we all walked 3/4 mile to school - one way. Not a long way at all, but no school buses, no crossing guards, no parent guides, no police. Just a group of kids who would grow as as moved down the street past other kids houses.

[bus man]

The forecast HIGH temp for Barrow, Alaska for the next 10 days is in the negative numbers. But I would venture to guess that they're not cancelling school.

I think the key is, it's what they're used to. Barrow is a cold place, all year 'round, so it's normal and customary for the people there. But for most of us in the Lower 48, extreme cold is simply not something that we have to suffer through. Back in the olden days, people in winter climates had no choice but to be used to the cold, because the only way they could warm up was by huddling around a fire. But now, we have our central heaters warming up our insulated houses to whatever temperature we choose. Most of us are simply not used to dealing with cold weather anymore.

On the flip side, if it ever gets up to 90 degrees in Barrow, I'll bet they'll cancel school!

[Bayard]

That’s right. We should brave accidents on the freeway and the teachers too. Who cares even if its possible to extend the school season these days, because most people should keep a dirt farmers lifestyle and hardships so as not to grow too soft.

Why? Because we’re supposed to be tough!

[tcrlaf]

They didn’t have ambulance-chasing attorney’s and clients willing to play the Litigation Lottery at the drop of a hat, either.

[Morgana]

Yea but Laura could walk to school, she was not bussed three hours away.

[Kirkwood]

Oh brother...

1) There was no radio, tv or telephones to allow school closure announcements in 1882.

2) Parents had good sense back then to keep their kids home in bad weather.

[Sacajaweau]

School was canceled yesterday here in Upstate NY. Everyone is bussed. Schools are usually miles from these suburbs.

I looked at an old 1872 map of my Town. There were many more schools then than now and ALL within walking distance (A mile at the most). A 20 minute walk. School was not the overwhelming "must" back then and families had common sense.

[ottbmare]

In 1882 there was no way to cancel school—no internet, TV, radio, or phone service. How would they have informed parents? By carrier pigeon?

[Beowulf9]

This is a pic taken of Chicago, today. For real.

[dalereed]

In 1915 they never canceled it either.

My mother had to ride a horse to school even in a blizard in North Dakota.

They didn’t in southern california in 1940 either but bad weather here is a little liquid sunshine!

[Talisker]

One of the replies to the ful article was this:

This is a truly selective reading of "These Happy Golden Years," since on a different day of that same term that same school was cancelled for cold weather. And, now that I think of it, the entire school term is cancelled because of cold and snow in one of the other books in the series.

[The Great RJ]

Keep in mind that there were no weather forecasts in the 1880s and people were often caught unaware when these cold and snow events happened. The great blizzard of 1888 killed hundreds of kids in the northern plains as they tried to get home from their one room schools and were caught in the blizzard.

The recent double digit below zero temperatures and potentially lethal wind chills in the plains were very dangerous and kids simply waiting for a school bus or latch key kids walking to their neighborhood school were at risk of frost bight regardless of how well they dressed. That said I saw many teens and especially junior high girls running around in hoodies and light jackets that wouldn't be warm enough when it was 40 degrees let alone 40 below zero. It wasn't that their parents could not afford warm coats as they were dressed in the latest fashion trends preferring to risk frost bight rather than not be cooly dressed and their nit wit parents allowed them to do this.