Author: shrdlu
Date: 2013-11-02 16:37
New here, but my 2 cents...
As a parent of another 6th grader who plays at school, I'd suggest that no matter how well-behaved and conscientious your own child is, you can not control his classmates. So I would suggest that if you think your child is mature enough to take care of an expensive instrument, then leave it at home and let him play it at home. When he gets older and plays at school, then get a Buffet B12 for school (this seems to be a recommended instrument for school and a step up from a Yamaha student model), as it will handle temperature changes better.
Having taken instruments home in the winter and during rainy days (in a good case), the instrument is still exposed to more weather than what you would want a nice wooden instrument exposed to. Add in children accidently bumping your child and knocking all their belongings out of their hands during the day, band members knocking instruments off of stands when the bell rings, etc., and you will probably want a less expensive instrument going to school, no matter what the grade. Also, while the children have lockers, they have little time to spend at their lockers. I've seen band members struggle to shove their band instrument cases into too-little lockers. I wound up putting 3 additional shelves in my child's locker so that belongings wouldn't get crushed or dumped on the floor while looking for a particular book that was buried under band stuff, P.E. stuff, 5 textbooks, 2 large notebooks, a jacket, a book bag, and stack of notebooks. In other words, your child might not have time to be very careful with his expensive clarinet when the bell is ringing and he is worried about being late for class...or if a child pushes him while in the hall. Then, if something does happen to his instrument while at school, it will be a mild disaster instead of a major disaster.
Another consideration is that there are many times, when picking up a child from school, that we have to go somewhere else (doctor or dental appointments, a quick run to get food or groceries, etc.) and the band instrument might have to be left in the car. (I am assuming that your child does not ride a school bus, as riding on a bus would not be safe for an expensive instrument.)
At least that is my plan...plastic instruments for school and nicer one for home.
p.s. Thanks for all the seasoned players for posting here, as I have learned a lot reading the forums. Any time I have had a question on an instrument, this forum has popped up in the search engine results.
Post Edited (2013-11-02 17:00)
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