The bathroom issue

amother

Coffee

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:09 pm

amother Dandelion wrote:

I have a points system where students earn points for doing their work, behaving appropriately, etc. They can use points to buy a pencil, go the bathroom, etc. They lose points for misbehaving or not doing work. They can buy prizes with points earned. Any time a student needs to go to the bathroom it will cost them points. If they really need to go, great they'll use their points. If not, they usually don't want to waste them and rethink going.

One of my children has a system where each child gets 3 bathroom passes a month. At the end of each month they can cash in unused passes.

Do you really believe this is ok?? That kids need to buy the right to use the bathroom. Or to only let a kid go 3 times a month? Horrible. I work in public school and have never heard a teacher tell a kid they can't go to the bathroom. Even there kids are trusted to go when they need to without questions. Why cant we treat our kids with respect and let them go to the bathroom as needed? I hope you come to realize that your way of doing this is really wrong and messed up.

amother

Latte

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:17 pm

Teachers thay have rules like "not in the first fifteen minutes"- what would you like a girl to do if she feels like her period might have come, but she doesn't want to tell you that? Is it acceptable to just get up and go amd then just say you really had to go?

The one kid at a time rule always made me miserable. If I need to go, how much will I learn while sitting with my legs squeezed together watching the door? And if I need a break, having someone else out doesn't change my needing one. I'll still be staring at the door.

amother

Jean

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:17 pm

Genius wrote:

I believe high school kids do not need to leave during class. In case of emergency they’re old enough to leave despite the rule. I’ve had this policy for years, made exceptions when necessary, and everyone has not only survived, but thrived.
It’s definitely different in younger grades. Age matters.

This is terrible. Why do you think that students are thriving if they can’t have the peace of mind that they can use the bathroom. I wish you would reconsider your approach. This is so unfair to the students.

amother

Jean

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:19 pm

amother Latte wrote:

Agree. It’s incredibly selfish and controlling of teachers to do that. I’m a teacher and I feel it is so wrong. If you can’t let humans take care of their bodily needs find another profession. I know it sounds harsh but it should be common sense for a teacher. If they truly cared about the students they would allow them to go to the bathroom.

amother

Lavender

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:20 pm

amother Jean wrote:

Op, the answer is every kid should be allowed to go to the bathroom whenever they want. That’s the right thing to do. A teacher had no right to control when a kid has to use the bathroom.
I’m a teacher btw.

If I let every kid go to the bathroom whenever they wanted, I’d have five students who would leave every time they got back into class, a few who would leave together just to hang out, and two more who would leave any time we started any work. I’d also have one who would unroll toilet paper, wet it in the sink, and start throwing it around the bathroom.
So no, they should not be able to go to the bathroom whenever they want.

As for a fair (lower school) policy:
One student out at a time. When a student needs to go, they take a pass from the magnet board and attach it to a little square of magnet on the desk. That way I can see who’s out. If more than one person needs to go, they need to ask me and I decide. I have one chunk of time a day where no one can go except emergencies.
If I see a student taking advantage, I give them two passes that they can use to go to the bathroom during class time and they must use those and not the regular pass. Once they run out, they’re out (except a real emergency).
At snack time I always let more than one student go at a time.

amother

Jean

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:22 pm

amother Lavender wrote:

As a teacher this isn’t ok. You need to give the kids more freedom to take care of their needs. Why do you have a chunk of time where you don’t let kids out?
Letting kids take care of their needs is the greatest lesson of all.
Teachers, allow kids to go the bathroom when they need to go. It’s as simple as that.

amother

Carnation

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:23 pm

I teach mid elementary afternoon.
My students receive four bathroom passes per month.
They have time before class to use the bathroom, at recess, and before dismissal. (That's three times in a little over 3 hours.)
I really don't think you need the bathroom more than that!
The bathroom passes can be used whenever they want as long as it's only one kid at a time.
If they use up all the passes (super uncommon), I "mark it down" and tell them to work on being more responsible and going at the right time.
I've bh never had a parent complain.
Obviously if a kid had crohns or something like that, then I'd give them more passes or make exception

amother

Jean

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:26 pm

amother Carnation wrote:

Don’t restrict a students bathroom usage. This is so wrong. You never know what’s going on with a kid and your creating stress for them for no reason. Please be more accommodating. 4 Passes a month is unfair to your students.

amother

Puce

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:32 pm

I teach high school so I will teach a class for only 40 minutes a day and I had that girls ALWAYS needed to go during my class. obviously, they were taking advantage. a teaching coach gave me the idea to allow them 3x per term. now I have a check list. if they need to go (only one at a time, school rule), then they make a check by their name. it's really limited their bathroom use. they have to make sure to go before or after class (they have two minute breaks).
also, if they're out for more than 7 minutes (school rule), it's a cut. but I usually don't pay attention to the clock unless I see a girl has been out for a while

amother

Lavender

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:34 pm

amother Jean wrote:

I’m confused by your response. How is throwing around wet toilet paper in the bathroom “taking care of their needs”? Likewise, if a student leaves at the beginning of every work assignment because they don’t want to do it, how is that “taking care of their needs”?

I don’t think I’ve ever had a situation in my class where a kid really needed the bathroom and wasn’t able to go.
Except for emergencies (which, as I mentioned above, I always let), the kids of the age that I teach are old enough to plan for the half hour I ask them not to leave the room and go to the bathroom right before at snack time.

amother

Scarlet

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:41 pm

I'm saying this as a mother of a child that one year was getting chronic UTIs. That year was the first time departmental and all the teachers felt don't go during my class. Even after writing the teachers a note 3x they still gave my daughter a hard time until I got the principal involved. What's so hard to "get?" If a parent gives you a doctor's note it's not just for that week. If a parent is continuously telling you it's an ongoing issue then please "get" it. I was so disgusted.

amother

Jean

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:50 pm

amother Lavender wrote:

Because your aren’t leaving room for a child to have the security that they can go the bathroom when needed. If a kid plays around with toilet paper, that’s ok and it’s part of school.
That isn’t a reason for us teachers to restrict and control bathroom usage. If a child is deliberately making trouble in the bathroom that individual needs to be spoken to. That in no way takes away from the very basic right all student should have . All students should have the autonomy to go to the bathroom as needed.
Not everyone’s body works the same way and it’s unfair to not let them go the bathroom for chunks of time. Do you want kids sitting in your class uncomfortable but it’s not deemed an emergency?
An uncomfortable kid isn’t learning anything anyways.
A teacher that cares about the students always allows kids to go the bathroom as needed.

amother

Bellflower

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 9:53 pm

amother Puce wrote:

A 2 minute break is really not enough, especially if the teacher before goes overtime by even 1 minute.
Teachers like you perpetuate a system where my daughter is out of the house from 7:30 in the morning until 5:30 pm and all she drinks is 1 8 oz cup of water because she can't use the bathroom too much

amother

Lavender

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 10:06 pm

amother Jean wrote:

I disagree—they do have the security to go as needed. They don’t even need to ask to go! For the many hours that I have them each day, I ask that they plan ahead for only 1/2 hour once a day, and even then, they know if they really need, the teacher will say yes.

And a kid wetting toilet paper and throwing it around the bathroom is okay?? That’s not only a behavioral issue; that’s a legitimate safety issue! That student very much should have to ask before going to the bathroom after this repeated behavior.

What age are you teaching that a free-for-all system works? I can’t imagine it’s the same as my students. Say I implemented it. What do I do when seven students leave the classroom at once? There aren’t even enough stalls for that many and they wouldn’t be able to go at once anyway. And many of them leaving don’t need to go to the bathroom at all. A bathroom pass policy just allows them to go to the bathroom for, well, going to the bathroom, and wheedles out those who want to play around.

And as an educator, I assume you know that some things are more engaging than others. If we are playing a review game with teams and buzzers, kids aren’t leaving the classroom. But as soon as it’s over, everyone who was holding it in will need to go and just practically speaking, they’ll need to take turns. Just like they manage then, they can manage with the predictable, built-into-our-routine, 1/2 hour. I’ve never heard a complaint about this—even with medical issues where clearly the kids leave whenever they need, rarely does someone need to in that 1/2 with the reminder to go during snack.

amother

Dandelion

Tue, Oct 24 2023, 10:12 pm

Wow are you all serious???

There are so many breaks and opportunities throughout the school day to go to the bathroom, how often per month does a child need to go urgently during a specific 45 minute class period?

Have you ever taken a 6-8 hour road trip? Do you really make 5+ stops?? My children are generally fine with stopping every 1.5-2 hours for a bathroom break. In school they can definitely get to the bathroom more frequently than that without going in the middle of a lesson.