Should I complain about this?

At the school I worked at, most of us used some variation of hall passes, sign out sheets to track who went and how often, the one at a time rule, or something of the sort.

We have sign out sheets and a one at a time rule. But this doesnt empower the teacher to say no. Then you get parental complaints of 'why didn't you let A go to the toilet', when you answer 'because it's their third time in three hours' you get rubbish about human rights back and no school policy to back you.

The policy is designed (like laws) for the lowest common denominator, not the nice kid who occasionally needs a wee.

Ds school had this policy, he already had bowel problems before he started, but within a year, he started to regularly suffer impaction that meant instead of missing 5 minutes of a lesson he was off school for 2-3 days while we unblocked him with medication & he had to be admitted to hospital twice because his colon was badly enlarged. I asked for a toilet pass, but because he wasn't under a consultant, they wouldn't give him one.

This here.

This isn't a new thing, this was in place decades ago when I was in high school!

Generally, if a kid isn't asking to go the toilet frequently, then teachers aren't going to have a problem. They'll usually just be allowed to go, and only pulled up if becomes a repeated behaviour.

I don't agree with toilet bans though. A basic human right is to use the toilet - I remember having a weak bladder later in high school - not really my fault! Plus, trying to hold a sore, full bladder or whatever, and concentrate on work is not conductive to concentration.

That being said, it was rare I really needed to leave a lesson to go, so when I did, I would get up and either just tell them 'Just nipping the loo sir/miss' which was usually met with a 'fine' or a nod. Once or twice another kid kicked up a fuss for being met with a no when they asked, and the teacher would tell them straight - 'you're always doing it, Toenailz isn't'. Or, I'd ask, and if they said no, and I needed, I would go anyway. Think that only ever happened once. I was made to stay behind after lesson by the teacher and was just reasonable with her 'When do I ever ask to leave your lesson to go the loo? Never. So, I needed'. There wasn't much she could say, because it was the truth, and was she pretty reasonable in response.

Some teachers are on a control trip though and will abuse this. As do kids..

@Isittimeformynapyet

that's true but people were complaining that no constructive alternatives were being offered so the natural inference is that people were saying 'well we have to do this because we can't afford to do anything better'

However I do take your point

Perhaps what most schools in most advanced countries do to deal with this issue, and what most of the teachers who've posted say they do, which is: a general policy discouraging toilet use while allowing for discretion in cases of periods, upset stomachs etc.

At the school I worked at, most of us used some variation of hall passes, sign out sheets to track who went and how often, the one at a time rule, or something of the sort.

In other words, we found a medium between anarchy and harshly worded blanket bans that would only have alienated parents right at the beginning of the year, and punished good students for the actions of bad.

I think the teachers and sensible parents posting here understand that this is a policy that simply empowers teachers to say no to the requests which are not urgent or genuine (which is most of them) and yes at their discretion.

But some people just can't help but make the block-headed assumption that teachers are stupid or hate children.

This makes sense until one realizes that periods, diarrhea and UTIs are things that exist in nature. Obviously not all the time, but they happen and teachers should be able and willing to use discretion in such cases, rather than being bound by some nonsensical blanket policy.

A child who asks discreetly once in a blue moon could maybe be given the benefit of the doubt.

Head
Brick.
Wall.

But I'll say it again.... This is what will happen!

It's just that the 'ban' gives more power to teachers to say no to the kids who keep asking. Otherwise they argue they're allowed to go and school have no reason not to let them.

Not being able to afford pencils was in response to employing toilet attendants and nothing to do with the ethics of toilet bans, so your point doesn't stand up.

I have no doubt at all that schools have changed almost beyond recognition since I was in the senior's and I don't mind that being pointed out. Can't fathom why you'd feel disrespected.

That aside, I went through my entire school career without vomiting, wetting or soiling myself and I'm unaware of any friends/classmates having fallen victim to these humiliations. Happy to accept I might have been lucky, but don't understand why so many posters seem to think this is an ever present danger.

What the hell is a shit/piss/period troll?! So people now can't say how they feel about a policy like this without being deemed a sick fuck? 🙄

I really think a lot of you are missing the point.

Most teachers like children. It would be a weird career choice if they didn’t. The teachers on here have said a) they can use their discretion and b) they’ve never seen children wet/soil/flood.

The rules mean that your child is kept safe. They mean that if a child really does need to use the bathroom, they will be in the bathroom alone, or with other others who also really need it. They won’t have an audience of vapers.

Don't forget namechanging to start the eleventy millionth thread on this in about a month.

So many posters enjoying talking about children's bodily functions.

@hollywally54 why did you namechange?

You mentioned the fact that students with medical needs get a pass. How is that ignoring them?

I think you must know you are being irrational if you resort to being abusive to anyone that disagrees with you.

First break is 10 minutes. Lunch is half an hour. The school has 900 students and 16 toilets for the girls.....

That's ridiculous. They must spend most of their breaks queuing up to have a pee. The HSE recommended no of toilets is 5 per 100 staff, so 900 people in an office should ideally have 45 toilets. And in most offices, you don't have set breaks where you can uses them, so not everyone's going at the same time.

I just counted up the number I can remember from my school, and we had at least 28 for 600 pupils (single sex school) plus more in the gym block and one in the pavilion.

Might also be worth mentioning that MN is full to the brim of piss/shit/period trolls and from the language used by some posters on here, they're flocking round this thread like flies round the proverbial getting their sick rocks off.

It would be awful. Thankfully it'd also be extremely rare. We are (hard as it may seem for you to believe) pretty good at telling when even those students genuinely aren't putting it on.

Again, I've been teaching since 1994 and yet to have anyone in a class wet themselves, shit themselves, or have blood seep into their clothing.

It's not cherry picking. It's common sense. We use it quite a lot.

Ah ok, we'll just ignore all the 'unhealthy ones' shall we?

As your OP said, there are passes avaliable.

As teachers keep saying, discretion is used!

Out of curiosity, what do non teachers suggest we do to stop 26 out of 30 kids going to the toilet in every lesson? Seriously?

Those that complain about these policies on similar threads never answer this question!

eh what!? Absence and attendance policies are not in the hands of the school, and lunch box content instructions is due to life threatening allergies. Bodily functions are not "up for grabs now" but have been regulated to break and lunch times for a couple of hundred years, as they are in many work places, so your outrage is a bit late 😂

The policy at DDs school is no one goes to the toilet in lesson time unless they have a pass. And I'm glad! It keeps her safe, away from bullies, violence and the vaping crew.

She goes to a good school but life in secondary schools these days is tough. Parents of Y7 children are usually horrified at the differences primary and secondary school but it quickly settles down when they realise the rules are there for a reason, which is mainly to protect your child. I wouldn't want my DD anywhere near a toilet during lesson time, god only knows what could happen to her.

I can't wait for her to finish secondary school. Head down, get through it.