Schoolgirl, 15, ‘stopped from using toilet while on period’

[WinnieSmith]

Schoolgirl, 15, ‘stopped from using toilet while on period’ then put in seclusion

metro.co.uk/2021/05/31/schoolgirl-15-stopped-from-using-toilet-while-on-her-period-14680071/

"...we do ask that students make every effort to do this during break and lunch time to minimise disruption to lessons..."

@Lulola
If they are flooding within 50 minutes, the longest they would need to wait then I would expect them to have a medical pass. Due to covid breaks and lunches are half way through lessons currently so twice a day the longest they would go is 25 minutes

First of all, menstruation isn’t a medical issue so a medical pass isn’t appropriate.
Second, if a girl suddenly comes on her period - which is extremely common - why should they have to wait even 5 minutes to sort themselves out? Why should they have to queue up at break time when the toilet will be packed out? Why should they have to change their underwear in a packed out toilet? Possibly have to wash themselves in a packed out toilet? Why would anyone think it’s ok to subject girls to such embarrassment? Just because some idiots mess about in the toilets, it’s ok to subject menstruating girls to demeaning toilet policies?

Argh kids wanted to nip to the toilet during class is a complete nightmare.

I’m told by the headteacher not to let kids out to use the toilet during class time. But then told to use my discretion, which really tough.
Periods is the thing I always let kids out for. However ...

I had a girl ask me if she could nip to the toilet because of her period 3 weeks on the trot. I let her go each time, then checked with pastoral team.
Girl admitted she wasn’t on her period at all.

Some kids like skipping class and will lie to get out of it. It totally disrupts your lesson. That said I always let girls out for their period.

Oh another thing the bathrooms keep getting trashed / flooded during lesson times. Another reason the head doesn’t want kids out of class.

I’d have a member of staff based near the toilets to keep an eye on behaviour - if there’s a couple of students in already, they wait outside.

That’s 10 extra members of staff because each year group need their own toilet! What school can afford 10 members of staff to sit and watch toilets?

Look, I’m no condoning the policy, I think it’s shit and never liked enforcing no-toilet rules. And now I don’t have to and I can let students go any time they want. Schools are not particularly humane and this is an issue that needs to be sorted out.

BUT it is true that this sort of story is likely to be a known piss-taker kicking off about her “rights” for full drama. It happens a LOT.

And it’s also true that a teacher would have to wait far more than five minutes if she unexpectedly started a period during a lesson. So it’s not like a teacher is enforcing rules they themselves don’t have to stick to.

There is no way teachers (I am one) can keep all students motivated all of the time... definitely within the confines of the current curriculum. So, I agree, there are lots and lots of issues that cause kids to want to have a skive for a bit. But if they have to learn to write an essay on unseen poetry they have to do it. If they have to write up a report on a science experiment they have to do it! Lots would prefer to meet their mates in the loos and do tiktoks, nip to have vape, meet for a gossip. Who wouldn't tbh. The current rigorous academic curriculum does not suit lots of students.

Factor in the issues of increased anxiety and MH issues (lots of kids on waiting lists for CAMHS) increased screen addiction post lockdown and you can see why nipping out of lessons is preferable.

There is literally no way my DD could even fit in a quick wee between lessons!

Luckily she goes to a school where the pupils can, on the whole, be trusted, as young adults, to do their best to not need the loo at inappropriate times. There is also a clear washbag of emergency supplies in every female bathroom.
And the facilities are well maintained.

Should add - accompanied some students to a hockey tournament at another school. Went to use the loo and three out of four of them were out of order. So it took a lot longer for my small group to get back to the field :(

Maybe some.of these schools should do something about behaviour rather than punish and humiliate menstruating students for their own lack of control iver the situation.

Constant toilet disruption is a symptom not the cause of disruption. And no one should have to suffer that kind of humiliation.

Kids who want to disrupt the class will. The toilet isn't the only way.

It's a real problem and I'm not sure what the answer is. For every 1 genuine emergency there are probably 99 pisstakers. If you let one person go and not the 2nd one who asks, then you have to deal with shouting and arguing,"but you let her go." Then you have a queue of people waiting to go. The ones returning don't know what they're doing because they missed the instructions. So now you're repeating yourself. Other people are waiting cos they've finished that bit of work, now they're mucking around whilst you're repeating task 1 to the toilet goer etc etc.... As a teacher you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

If you are not a teacher I don't think you can really imagine just how disruptive it is. Maybe imagine doing a really complex presentation at work and people keep standing up and shouting and leaving and returning.

Also schools don't have money for enough teachers never mind toilet monitors. Maybe parents could volunteer to come in and do shifts.

More money would help I suppose. A toilet off each classroom, perhaps.

@Lulola

I’d have a member of staff based near the toilets to keep an eye on behaviour - if there’s a couple of students in already, they wait outside.

That’s 10 extra members of staff because each year group need their own toilet! What school can afford 10 members of staff to sit and watch toilets?

What school has 10 year groups? My DDs secondary school has 3 buildings with toilet blocks in each one - so that’s 3 toilet blocks.

There is literally no way my DD could even fit in a quick wee between lessons

It’s the same for the teachers. We don’t get to nip to the loo during or between lessons.

In some jobs you can’t just nip for a pee whenever you fancy. Or indeed change your pad whenever you feel like it.

Also schools simply do not have the funding for an extra 5 members of staff to man the toilets all day.

What school has 10 year groups? My DDs secondary school has 3 buildings with toilet blocks in each one - so that’s 3 toilet blocks

Maybe their school is set up differently from yours. I’ve taught in schools where there are 8 spread out toilet areas.

My current school would need 5 staff, we can’t afford 1 extra staff member.

That's a tiny school! (For secondary)

The last school I worked in had 1100 students. At least five toilet areas I can think of off the top of my head. The school I went to as a child had almost 2000, and 12 different blocks!

Plus male and female toilets are often sited separately, so you could double the number of blocks to get number of toilet areas that need supervision.

Laughing at the people saying if the lessons are engaging students won't take the piss. Have you seen the current curriculum?!

We have a nobody should be on the corridor during lessons policy.
If asked I always write a note so that they can leave get the key from reception. Yes, the toilets are locked to stop vandalism, truancy and general wandering around.

It’s not for me to say if they genuinely need to go or not. I always let them.

Detentions would occur where there has been stroppiness, screeching “I’m ON my PERIOD” for maximum dramatic effect (usually roping in other screechers too), stomping out of lessons - all this is commonplace among a certain type of student and as they’re also usually prone to lying through their teeth at every given moment you’ve no idea if the period thing is true.

This happens and I hate it. ‘I’ve got my period’ screeched across the room. You have no idea how unpleasant some students can be.

A teacher was called up for allowing a girl to leave during a lesson before half term. She and her friends had arranged to leave their (different) classes at a set time. One of them got the key, let the others in and set off the alarm vaping.

We can’t win.

Agree with all the teachers posting. There is far more to this than the article shares.

We have to keep students safe in school. At one point we couldn't send anyone to the toilet during lesson time because some students were arranging county lines drug deals on their phones. At break it was too noisy for them to speak openly so they'd do it in lesson time. This was girls too. So yes they would have been banned, with good reason! You could call someone as an emergency if someone really really needed it.
I've also had the girls who ask every week to go because of "MY PERIOD". When challenged they admit that they just fancy a wander during lessons.

As a teacher I can't just leave with no notice. Even when pregnant, I had to puke in a bin a couple of times when I couldn't grab someone off a corridor.

In some jobs you can’t just nip for a pee whenever you fancy. Or indeed change your pad whenever you feel like it

Feel.like it? It's a need due ti uncontrollable functions of the female body. Not a trip to the tuck.shop.

The fact that staff are unable to tend to their basic hygiene requirements and are at risk from.humiiatimg accidents and maybe even infections/thrush etc as a result if being unable to perform basic functions, shows a huge problem.with default male set ups tbh. There should be adequate provision and adequate break time etc

They give out toilet passes at my daughters school.

She now has one after an incident of a male teacher refusing to allow her to go to the toilet despite her asking him three times. It was her second ever period and very heavy.

I can see the points made by teachers here, however these points absolutely don’t trump my daughters right to change a sanitary pad, or to be spared the indignity of pleading for this.

@Scabz

But why hadn't she gone at break

@Scabz because you don't piss blood. You have control over your bladder and bowels. You don't have any control over your uterus.

What school has 10 year groups? My DDs secondary school has 3 buildings with toilet blocks in each one - so that’s 3 toilet blocks.

Some schools very different though. Thinking back to my secondary school there were 14 toilet blocks I can remember (2500 kids). Most were small, but would need monitoring in the same way - the school site was absolutely massive.

I can see the points made by teachers here, however these points absolutely don’t trump my daughters right to change a sanitary pad, or to be spared the indignity of pleading for this

Sorry this happened to your daughter. I always let kids go. It is a complete nightmare dealing with kids asking to go to the loo all sodding day.
Especially when you also need a wee and can’t just bugger off to the loo yourself.

We have to keep students safe in school.

This is at the heart of it.
We have vulnerable children who are not permitted to leave lessons unaccompanied (self harm etc) also persistent truants who like to wander around.
We have to call reception and get on-call to attend if they request a corridor pass.
10 min gone from the lesson.

I often say that pupils (male or female) can go to the toilet during my lesson but they'll have to give me five minutes (or more, equivalent to the lesson time they missed) at lunch to "catch up".

If they are genuinely in need of the loo, they agree to these terms (and I then subsequently 'forget' the catch-up time). The vast, vast majority suddenly decide their urgent need can in fact wait until the end of the lesson.

But this isn't a hard and fast rule. Like so many things in teaching, how you handle it is nuanced and responsive to the situation and the child. I have absolutely let a hard working and sensible girl go to the loo upon request without question because, well, I know her and I'm confident that she's only asking because she's in genuine need.

I've also let a sometimes disruptive and challenging girl go to the loo upon request without question, because, well, I know her too, and I can differentiate between her (frequent) attempts to skive and disrupt and a sincere and urgent need to go to the toilet.

Teachers don't always get things right. But we don't always get it wrong either. There is often a lot of skillful invisible managing and assessing of multiple simulaneous situations happening, that is dismissed when people who are not aware of the complexities say incredulously "For God's sake just let them go to the loo!"

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime

We had a staff meeting and a male member of staff asked if girls were on their period could they wait or did they have to go. And the FEMALE member of SLT said that no it wouldn't be an emergency and that they can wait and it doesn't come on suddenly. The school do offer toilet passes for medical need but that relies on the child having been to the Dr's about it.

I couldn't believe it, how little did she know about the female body to come to that conclusion. Personally if a girl in my class needs to go I let them and will take the flak if they get caught.

HP did you challenge her? Not saying it was your job to, just curious how it ended?

I can barely get my dd to go into school during periods sometimes. Its sometimes made more difficult than it needs to be.
I get the issues fir teachers with not allowing them to just leave the room whenever, but that also makes it really horrible for girls too

It’s a massive issue in my school. I usually let students go to the loo but I regularly get told off for it. It’s a nightmare. But there are huge behaviour issues in most schools. Mine is an outstanding comp but our toilets get vandalised during lessons. Most days I have students refuse to follow simple reasonable instructions. It is very difficult for schools to tackle these behaviours and all the self harm going on in the loos too. Schools just don’t have the resources.