To create a fuss about my son not having access to water today in school

I’m not saying it was ideal, but my
primary had no water fountain, so we had 1 small blue cup of water the whole day at lunchtime. We played, we did PE etc. it’s not ideal, but equally I wasn’t dying of thirst! I don’t remember being thirsty. I even remember my mam complaining about the lack of fountain and wondering why she was so bothered.

he has access to water at break and lunch… totally fine.

Sounds like he was messing around with it and had it removed.

Was about to say exactly the same! 'In our day' we only had access to water from a shared jug at lunchtime, I didn't die even once either!!

I agree that in hot weather it's different...

But OH GOD! This awful idea that children need to be sucking on bottles of water all the time - is that still going on? They should not be on the tables but in a safe, cool place and the kids should have a good drink between lessons.

When I was last teaching it was the bane of our lives. I'd have children becoming obsessed about re-filling their bottles during lessons. In the winter months and even under most normal conditions no-one is going to die of thirst from having to wait half an hour for a drink of water. It's such a distraction and children with poor concentration tend to get hung up on it.

Why are some parents intent on making teaching even harder and contributing to driving more teachers out of the profession?

Surely the bar to contact a headteacher is significantly higher than this?

I was in school in 2007 and they trialled us having water in the classroom. Before that we all coped just fine, usually on a beaker of orange squash or a carton of something at lunchtime.

Correct. We didn’t die. But I did have massive problems with constipation which my doctor confirmed was because I didn’t drink regularly.

Can we be sure that the teacher actually said this? (S)he could have said that (s)he had been talking to his mum and that she was disappointed in his fidgeting and lack of concentration when he should have been working, or words to that effect. Children often misinterpret what has been said and he is feeling singled out and that he has been "picked on" yet again.

Yabu

Your son had access to water at breaks.

Sounds like the fidgeting is disruptive and rude. Are you doing anything to improve his behaviour in class?

His teacher should not be talking about matters outside of the class in front of his peers.

😂

It's 30 degrees in some places. It wasn't that hot when I was at school in the 80s and 90s..
There's a difference between it being mid twenties and over thirty degrees. It's been proven kids work better if they're not dehydrated. Lots of things have changed since the 89s.. Should we also bring back the cane?
Yes he should have had more at break but that's not an excuse for this teacher's behaviour and she sounds horrible anyway.
Is there any point saying anything? Probably not and it's supposed to be a bit cooler next week so less of an issue.
Hopefully he'll get a decent teacher next year.

Unless he asked for a drink because he was thirsty and the teacher refused, YABVU.

I'm truly baffled by those who think it's fine for a child to have his bottle of water taken away on the hottest day of the year. Yes we don't know the full story, and possibly the teacher did make it clear to him that if he needed it he could ask her, but that's not the point some of you are making. You're saying it's fine for an 8 year old to go without water for three hours on a hot afternoon in a stuffy classroom, whilst all the other children around him have their water bottles in front of them. No it's not going to kill him (that was a weird argument someone made), but it's still going to make for a very uncomfortable few hours, all because he's a child who needs to fiddle with something. I agree with the poster who said water is not something that should ever be taken away as a disciplinary measure, even if that's just an obvious consequence of taking the bottle away.

Dear OP, i voted YANBU. The teacher sounds like a bully and to keep water away from a kid when he can see others have it is awful. You know your son, if you believe what he's telling you, advocate for him. I would be letting the head know and arranging a meeting with a list of things your son has experienced. None of what youve said is OK. I would also be seeking ND referral and talking to the school about this. If he needs to stim with something then the school should be supporting him with this. The school have a legal and ethical obligation to ensure his overall well-being are not negatively impacted by things happening to him. This extends to adequate nutrition, emotional well-being, and his education to name a few.

Encourage your son to drink more at breaks and lunchtime. He was probably being disruptive with the bottle which was why it was removed.

Edited to add…in answer to thread title, I wouldn’t create a fuss over this. It’ll be hot next week too so I wouldn’t want to make this an ongoing issue.

But it's equally absurd to think that it's inevitably dreadful and worthy of complaint for children to have to go a couple of hours without water on demand.

I don't remember being thirsty in school as a child, and I spent some of my childhood in a hot country. I guess we must just have made sure we had enough to drink in breaks.

Wasn’t trying to be binary or controversial, just trying to point out that nothing will have happened to OP’s son (or any other child) if they don’t have a bottle of water on their desk in lessons - a good drink every couple of hours at breaks should be fine. I just think the “drink more” message, while healthy, seems to have caused a lot of parents huge anxiety around their child having a water bottle available at all times.

That’s not what I said and you know it! There is a middle ground between not drinking anything for 3 hours in 30° heat and “a continuous stream of water all day”
Why is everything always so binary with people on Mumsnet?!

Your son did have access to water if he only had a few sips at lunch it doesn’t sound as if he needed any.

was he thirsty?

They do now! This obsession with having water bottles everywhere. Then there's all the threads complaining about not be able to.use the toilet at school.
A drink before school, one at break, then lunch, and then at the end of school should be sufficient.

Honestly, what is going on with these people?! Absurd to think that children shouldn’t have access to water on demand because they didn’t.

Yes, I mean lets all deny climate change as well why we are at it, we didn't have climate change in my day- oh actually I'm not that old so we did!

What a strange comment! Children have been taking water bottles to school since at least the 90s, if not the 80’s, and it’s in no way ridiculous. I sit and sip on my water throughout the day to stay hydrated, children should be able to do the same.

He would have also been able to have a drink at break time and would have drank more at lunch if he was thirsty. If he was messing around with his bottle he clearly wasn’t concentrating so I’m not surprised
she removed it from him.

We know that good hydration is good for children and adults.

Doesn't mean that people died from not having sips of water all day long. Nobody is saying that. But the ideal is just to be able to have a drink as and when you want it.

Why would you argue that NOT having access to water is better than having access?

That's just stupid and part of the whole 'well it was better in my day and we were all tougher and stronger back then' mentality.