Teachers, Allow Your Students to Use the Bathroom
Using the bathroom shouldn't be a source of stress in a classroom
Among the many school-related worries that affect kids, one of the common things that young children (and even some older kids) worry about is the ability to use the bathroom during the day.
Teachers who say no to children using the bathroom have always been a huge pet peeve of mine. I can’t understand why a teacher would deny a child going to the bathroom; it’s not only a normal body function, dare I say it’s a personal right?
What astounds me is when teachers say they don’t want the child to lose instruction time, but how can kids learn when they are worrying about having an accident? Even worse are the social and mental ramifications of having an accident in the classroom. How many adults are denied using the bathroom at work?
What always bothers me is when children are denied personal rights simply because they are young.
There are so many reasons why children should be allowed to use the bathroom at school when they need to, and one of the top reasons is health. Kids’ bladders are not as mature as adults and it’s common sense that they will need to use the bathroom more often.
Furthermore, having a child hold his urine can be damaging. It can cause the child’s bladder to overfill and leak urine, which only makes things worse. Once this happens, children can develop urinary tract infections, which in turn, can lead to an irritable or overactive bladder.
Years ago, a mom in one of my kid’s classes related a story about how her 7-year-old son was denied using the bathroom after already using the restroom twice. He then had an accident and the teacher made him sit the rest of the day in soiled pants. On top of that, the teacher didn’t call the mom to bring another set of clothes.
I have taught in different classrooms before and I have never viewed a bathroom break as a disruption. Part of being a good teacher and educator is being sensitive to a child’s needs. Sure, you will have kids looking for a way out of class, especially as they get older, but experienced teachers know how to institute boundaries.
As a 14-year-old high school freshman, I had a teacher who said on the first day that we were old enough to know how to behave and he never wanted any of us to raise our hand and ask to use the bathroom. His instructions were simply get up and discreetly leave and come back without interruption.
His class had the least people leaving. Perhaps it was the ease of being able to leave. The class clowns weren’t looking for attention by raiding their hands and getting a thrill when the teacher allowed them to leave.
I can also attest to how soothing reaching his class was for so many girls who had their period. In a day filled with back-to-back classes, there was often not a spare minute to attend to personal issues until lunch, which might be at the end of the day.
Consider the awkwardness of the child and teen years coupled with how many different circumstances a student can have from day to day. They can be sick with a stomach illness or even a chronic one- and perhaps it’s one that hasn't even been diagnosed yet.
Food sensitivities can wreak havoc on a gut but so can stress from worrying about using the bathroom. Teachers who deny children just after eating lunch forget that the lunch might just be why the child needs the bathroom.
Medications can cause multiple bathroom trips. Kids who don’t have the best at-home environments might not have had time to use the bathroom. Children with long commutes may have been up for hours before arriving to school so when a teacher denies a student because the day just started, that’s quite a narrow view.
A child will not miss much in the few minutes it takes to use the bathroom. Furthermore, some children are so shy and timid, and can barely raise their hand to ask a teacher to use the bathroom.
When a teacher denies them, or says they don’t allow it from the beginning, it can produce a great amount of stress for these students.
I have known quite a few children through friends of my own kids who have been unnecessarily stressed out over using the bathroom in school. If a child feels uncomfortable at school, how can he thrive?
Isn’t the whole point of education learning how to operate better in the world? Surely that begins with learning to take care of our needs.
Have rules, yes, and maintain order, for sure, but teachers, please allow your students to enjoy the mental and physical contentment they deserve.
