School toilets

[Sweetheart1990]

School toilets!
Son text me to say he had walked out of lesson after being refused permission to go to the toilet, he had finished all his work. I have always told him to do this if he is desperate but he never actually has before.
He has been put in isolation.
I'm angry as I really believe that students should be allowed to go when they need to and he had completed all tasks so was just say in the classroom anyway.
What does everyone else think?

Quite. My colleagues don’t sneak pillows into work to setup camp in the ladies’ toilets to vape during working hours. My DD told me about this happening at her school.

Why didn’t he go in the break of lesson . Inbetween the two lessons. They also have lunch break and usually another break.

The point is often at schools lovely children arrange with friends to meet in toilets at a similar time to have a laugh.This could involve Throwing wet tissue on the ceiling vandalising the toilets,corridors or lockers, steal stuff , hide stuff for fun.
Much bullying occurs in toilets .
I’m not insinuating your boy would do this I’m just saying this is why there is usually a no loo going policy in schools. You say other teachers let him go? Or let others go , as in all jobs some teachers really don’t care and not sticking to school policy creates messy school dynamics and increases problems.

Most lessons are max 1 hr long so like pp said it’s good training for meetings later life etc. if he’s finished his work there should be an extended activity given to stretch him.

Just a few ideas.

I don’t think encouraging your child to walk out is great, it will impede his profile within the school. And causes the teacher a lot of grief to then contact someone to find out where he is .
I’m not sure how big the school is, but imagine that x every class. You have to pay a full member of staff just to patrol corridors for absentees.

He hasn't been executed, he was in isolation for a while. May e tomorrow he'll go outside lesson times.

That's a very patronising, ableist generalisation. Do you normally mock people whose bodies don't work as perfectly as yours and call them babies?

I worked for a contract cleaning company whilst a student, cleaned lots of workplace and retail toilets and I think you'd be shocked. Whilst not to the level of kicking urinals off walls, but certainly stuffing things down toilets (carrier bags, pairs of jeans) , deliberately flooding sinks, wiping crap and blood everywhere, gouging lumps out of the partitions, graffiti, discarded condoms, syringes, upending sanitary bins, sticking toilet paper balls to the ceiling and pissing everywhere (the last two were mainly male pursuits).

Marvellous how far we've progressed as a society, isn't it?

A response from the sort of parent who causes as much trouble and their off-spring!

Generally, isolation is not the first sanction given, so I’d be surprised if it was the first response here.

Since your son needs to keep hydrated, I’d suggest that you contact his head of year and the SENCo and request a toilet pass because he has an additional need.

I imagine you’ll be able to email his form tutor or head of year OP and express your views. I’d also find our, from the school’s perspective, how the situation arose, in case you need to discuss it further with your son.

At age 14 (unless there is a genuine medical condition), all children should be capable of waiting for break times to use the toilet.

Surely it’s not unreasonable to ‘go’ when convenient, rather than wait until you are desperate?

Isn’t it what most people do? About to leave home = use the loo first.
Arrive somewhere after a journey of some kind = use the loo.
Leaving an event prior to a longish drive home = use the loo.
Arrive at school after bus journey = use the loo before starting lessons, whether you are ‘desperate’ or not.

It’s just common sense.

My daughter has an overactive bladder and has a toilet pass...don't know if it's an option for your son

In an ideal world, of course everyone should be able to go if they really need to. But sadly, the behaviour of some students makes this impossible. Leaving classes frequently to truant, meet mates, vape, fight, vandalism toilets. In worst instances, assault random students in toilets.

If your colleagues starting doing that and your employer's response was to ban you all from the toilets apart from set times during the day, you would be pissed off. You would expect work to deal with the individuals causing the issues. If you had a bad stomach, a period flood or unexpectedly needed the toilet, you wouldn't just soil yourself because of the rules, you would go and use the toilet.

Collective punishments are lazy.

What?! What kind of gulag do you work at?? Of course you would - you'd say "sorry, just nipping to the loo" and be back to continue.

Simply common sense and educational authorities do not go together.
Good luck OP

I would if desperate or if tummy issues. Sometimes cannot wait and I think it’s more polite than being incontinent in public?

But teachers have actively chosen that career, and are paid for it - and are mature adults. It's absolutely not like for like.

If schools genuinely decide to employ staff predicated on ableist discrimination and ignoring equality legislation - with a blanket ban on qualified staff with certain disabilities and health conditions, rather than making alternative adjustments - they should be challenged. I'd wonder what other laws they arbitrarily decided didn't apply to them too.

I bet they wouldn't blanket-ban everybody from using the lift, though - because far more kids play and mess around in them than they have kids who use wheelchairs, so the latter just have to accept that they're a minority whose needs just don't matter.

DC secondary and DN last years they were there had them locked up most of the day. Therortically they were unlock at lunch and break practaiclaly often not. Both were vey gald to get to college for post 16 education.

So even those with medical notes struggled to access in lessons - they've had to go to office presnet note find someone with a key and then be walked back to lessons.

They did have some teen girls start to traunant. DN used to struggle as tehy were lockaed after school and she had long journey home. Both schools in different parts of country had massive damage done to facilites hence the locking. Also pupils were wary about using due to poor behavior of other students inclduing films and bullying.

No idea what the answer is but really not surpised at the no or the dentention - even back in my 90s secondary you were expected to go in breaks or in room shifts rather than leave lessons.

If you need to go you need to go! Seems petty of the teacher to put him in isolation. I remember at school being put in isolation for wearing a black jumper instead of a navy one...totally unessecary but it was only for one day so not a big deal. I wouldn't worry about it

@Miffyontour noooo! I needed to believe that they grew out of it! I think there's a lot of 'if I can't see the consequences, it doesn't have them' in terms of damage like that. I obviously disapprove of the vaping and alcohol and but the vandalism always ground my gears as it seemed so utterly contemptuous of the cleaning staff.

I work in a school and the state of the toilets after the kids have used them is a disgrace, they break sinks, doors and leave them in a right mess. We work hard to keep the school toilets as pleasant as possible but it is a joke! (And expensive!)

if he leaves at 7.20 surely he gets to school before the school day starts, why didn’t he go as soon as he arrived?

I've never seen a kid play in a lift. Perhaps I was lucky, but I worked in a school where we had many in electric wheelchairs and I never saw a child in there that shouldn't have been.

Are the toilets open at break and lunch?

ImImmortalNowBabyDoll · Today 14:07
Why was he so desperate for the toilet? Teachers can't just walk out to use the toilet halfway through a lesson, they have to go at break or lunch.

And not even then if they have grounds duty or a lunchtime club, or kids coming to them in tears for counselling or for extra help with their work. Adults have to learn to control their bodily functions...that's part of growing up. Or at least to plan ahead.

I was at a girls school as well so no possibility of blaming naughty boys for creating problems for girls.