Girl sat in blood soaked clothes after being told she couldnt go to the toilet and would require a £15 toilet pass.

[HelenaDove]

metro.co.uk/2018/09/27/girl-sat-in-blood-soaked-clothes-after-teacher-said-she-couldnt-go-to-the-toilet-7984731/

FFS! What is wrong with some people And a £15 toilet pass. Misogyny and sex discrimination.

Two staff members also asked her what action the doctor was going to take to lighten her doctors flow.

Im absolutely furious reading this Im sorry if there already is a thread. I couldnt see one.

If this had been my daughter I'd have been ripping the head teacher a new one and demanding the teacher be educated about periods.

Completely ridiculous.

This really justifies all the outrage it gets. Surely it's a breach of the Equality Act 2010? This girl is being discriminated against because this rule impacts girls adversely compared to boys (and other genders) simply because she's female.

If a lawyer specialising in human rights reads about this case, I hope it crosses their mind as being suitable for a case pro bono publico because it sure as hell is in the public interest for the law to be clarified and the school held accountable to stop it happening again.

The mother on behalf of the child should be able to sue the school for every penny she can get, but there's no legal aid for this. An equalities claim is dealt with by tribunal but damages claims are in civil courts.

Where's Cherry Booth when you need her?

I spelled her name wrong, it's Cherie, not Cherry. Apologies.

Bothering doctors for ridiculous letters about issues which don't require medical intervention is ridiculous. Applying the rule to a girl who clearly just needed the loo is ridiculous. Having the rule at all is also fairly ridiculous what if a child suddenly gets a funny tummy or bladder infection.

I still remember suddenly needing the loo (tummy bug) in a history lesson and being told I couldn't go. It took all the courage I had to say "no I feel sick I need to go" (I was the kind of kid who was very scared to speak out of turn etc.). The teacher mocked me for it next lesson asking if I was still "feeling sick" snigger snigger. Really horrible, how humiliating for any child that didn't have the courage to just go.

God god .I want to find that poor 11 year old and give her a huge cuddle. Poor poor thing.

Drs note? For a period? And they want her on medication which is probably unnecessary (certainly won't he apparent til a few periods later) and a toilet lass all so the poor girl can go clean herself up?

I'm really angry for them what a disgusting discriminatory bunch of arseholes.

Do They not want girls at the school?

To the mother if you are reading,I'm so sorry this happened to your daughter

MacosieAsunter, I don’t understand how your second point is supposed to illustrate that allowing pupils access to the toilet leads to disruption? The disruption appears to have been in reaction to not being allowed to use the toilet.

Most toilet trained, continent people find it actually very difficult to “let go” somewhere they have been conditioned not to. So it would seem that this boy really did need the toilet and proved it to the teachers.

I’m a TA, and my school has restricted toilet access. In reality it means any pupil asking to go to the toilet is given a tag by the teacher and is reminded to go when it is lunchtime, break time but I’ve not seen a child denied access.

I actually had a year 7 SEN child that this happened to. I was supporting her in lessons and noticed her wheelchair cushion was wet. She said she had split her drink bottle. She transfers out of her wheelchair into a classroom chair for all lessons. At the end of the lesson when I helped her back into her wheelchair it was obvious she hadn’t spilt her drink. She was having a period and flooding.

I deflected class mates, got the attention of the male class teacher who just said don’t worry about the chair just look after x. He cleaned up. I looked after the student who was very distressed after she realised what was happening. School sorted sanitary products and replacement clothes.

This is how a school should behave. Also mum has since been packing sanitary products in her bag.

Absolutely dreadful situation. Obviously in a secondary school some kids will struggle to manage themselves and that requires the school to put measures in place. However, staff should be empowered to use common sense to sensitive that young people are treated with fairness and dignity.

We used to officially have a policy of no toilet visits during lessons. It was unworkable and we were given a series of strategies to try to manage potential poor behaviour instead. If a child asks to the toilet we issue a pass with the time and date on and we have focus weeks where those details are logged in the event of poor behaviour. Generally speaking that keeps things in control. We issue formula toilet passes for those with serious bladder or bowel issues which means they get to go as soon as they ask rather than possibly be asked to wait until a more opportune moment.

I recall one male colleague become aware of a girl looking increasingly uncomfortable. As she stood up he said it was obvious the chair was sodden as was she. He had her and the chair whipped out the door, jacket round the waist and into the nearest toilets in a heartbeat. The nearest toilets happened to be staff ones but really, who would care in that example. Her mum sent him in some beer as a thankyou for how he helped during a really awful moment for that wee girl.

That is how good teachers respond to challenges which arise when you are dealing with humans

"Most toilet trained, continent people find it actually very difficult to “let go” somewhere they have been conditioned not to. So it would seem that this boy really did need the toilet and proved it to the teachers."

I wonder how many schools teachers etc implementing things like this would expect their pets to hold it in or shit on command/to a timetable.

How could any woman ask "what is the doctor going to do to reduce the flow?" I might understand if a man said that, I'd still think he was a bit period ignorant, but at least he'd have the excuse of never ever having had a period so not fully understanding them. This is gobsmacking.

Re toilet breaks. Yes, there can be problems with some kids, there always has been I guess there always will be, but a good teacher and a well managed school knows when to accept that it is essential for someone to go to the toilet immediately. Some of the rules at the academy schools I know of are insanely draconian. I went to a grammar school about a million years ago, where good behaviour was expected at all times and we were given more freedom than some children today.

I feel awful for this poor, poor girl. It is disgusting that she was put through this and it's going to stay with her. I was sitting in an exam when I was about fourteen, not long into starting my periods, when I started to bleed really, really heavily. I was wearing a pad and I could feel the bloody dripping out from my knickers. I was nearly in tears, but it was an exam and I didn't feel I could ask to be let out. I just wanted it to end. When it did, the exam not my period, I sat there until everyone had gone out, got up, had to wipe the chair down because there was blood on it, go to the toilet deal with all the blood and spent all day wearing a jumper around my waist. I still remember the shame I felt on that day and no teacher had denied me access to the toilet, so god knows how she must feel/will feel.

If she’d had a nose bleed, would she have been made to stay in class?

This happened to me once in front of the whole school at assembly. I was told to cap my hands to catch the blood. Eventually I ran out with my face covered in blood, and blood pouring through my fingers while the entire school chorused 'Eurrgh!' Later in secondary school, we PGL refusers were made to do a 9 mile walk when I had my period. There were no toilet breaks all day and the chafing was excruciating - my legs were raw and bleeding where my blood-encrusted pants had cut them. (Sorry for the TMI.)

My children are home schooled. If you want your kids treated like humans, it's the only way. I bet the adult prison population enjoys more comfort and dignity than school pupils.

This is just disgusting. My 10yr old started her periods this year and being at Primary school it's obviously early.
Her school have been fantastic, they called me to discuss whether she should speak to pastoral care, told me she could use the teachers toilets to make her feel more comfortable. I'm actually glad she has started early now if this is common in secondary schools.

Its not chicken. Honestly, we hear about these cases because it’s unusual.

I'm shocked. This is disgraceful.

A doctor's letter is bad enough, but to suggest to a parent that they that they seek medical help to change their very young (reproductive-lifecycle-wise) daughter's body's natural function is abhorrent! Especially since that usually involves hormones (the pill/implant) or the introduction of a device into her uterus. Unbelievable!

Sexist fucking bastards!!! That poor girl 💔 that scenario is every teenage girl's worst nightmare, I feel so sorry for her.

I'm sure you are right Pass, these poor girls have enough to deal with.

Ridiculous. I’d be so annoyed, as a parent. Teachers need to sort this out. It’s easy to use your common sense, if a pupil needs the bathroom in lesson, 95% of the time the pupil is being genuine.

For me personally, In the 5% of time they’re not, and it’s obvious that they aren’t then they are asked to make the time up at dinner/break.

I tend to be fairly flexible though. I only ever really say no to someone leaving lesson for the toilet if I know the pupil is trying it on, or if the bell is going to go in the next couple of minutes.

I’ve helped girls before - grabbed a jacket, rushed them into the nearest toilet - staff one if necessary and then told them to sit in my office whilst I phoned school office to phone home and get clean clothes.
I used to have two out of lesson passes that I could hand to kids if they needed the toilet. (Medical conditions had their own.) You weren’t allowed out of class without a pass. Policy was no going to the toilet in lessons but we could use our discretion. It was reasonably straightforward to distinguish those that were jumping up and down, the girls with their bags and a desperate look in their eyes, those that were as white as sheet (don’t ask just run) to those that were trying it on. However if you have ever worked in a secondary you can not let them go when they want - it is chaos, damage to the toilets, smoking, arranging to meet their mates etc. There are plenty of jobs where you are expected to wait for a break or cover to come, teaching is one of them! (I used to say to the kids that the same rule applied to me.) I could not leave a class, and I remember one day sending a carefully worded note along the corridor to get someone to keep an eye on my class as I’d come on and needed the toilet. Common sense policies work.

"I tend to be fairly flexible though. I only ever really say no to someone leaving lesson for the toilet if I know the pupil is trying it on, or if the bell is going to go in the next couple of minutes."
This.
I had the first one of the year today. 1h45 into lessons, 20 minutes before the break.... I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but I have made a note and if he asks again next week I shall remind him what breaks are for. A normal teenage boy should be able to hold his pee for 2 hours.
Sexist, perhaps, but I am much more lenient with girls..... for (what are to me) obvious reasons.

Very much a first world problem. Awkward but not the end of the world.

What is wrong with you?

That's horrendous. Poor girl.

Dreadful. Poor child

@Augustarella, had the same thing happen to me on a school trip. that it happened to us both.
Tempted to call for women to start sending their used pads and tampons to this school!