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Going to the toilet during lessons.
- Thread starter Misscollette
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If you were desperate that teacher should have used discretion and those bullies should have been dealt with.
I agree. I highly doubt anybody wants to be evil or anything, and I also find it hard to believe you'd purposefully do anything malicious. I, and obviously many others on here, disagree strongly with the rule, but to assume it exists for the purposes of cruelty is very pessimistic and unfair.
I really do believe you should change the rule however. Many good arguments have been given as to why.
A stomach bug, if a child told me they were ill I would let them go, or if thought they would wet themselves.
I'm also wary with girls and the time of the month.
Now we are getting more reasonable from your original post(s)
1. First nobody goes
2. Then nobody goes who doesn't have a medical note on file
3. Now it is medical circumstances (not medical note) and emergencies
Few if any would argue that kids should be allowed to come and go willy-nilly
And most would agree rules are needed
But I'm of the opinion that exceptions can and should be made and abusers should be dealt with on an individual basis
OP is either trolling, or such a sad powerless person that they have to resort to abusing power over 9 year olds in order to feel right in the world.
I never said I would sit and watch a child have an accident and humiliate themselves.
You are an adult. They are children, and young children at that.
With your responses to your question (and the fact you asked it), I honestly don't think you should be a teacher - or at least not a primary school one. I'm glad you weren't teaching mine.
My son (who is now 12) had a couple of accidents like this. Nothing too bad - luckily he didn't get bullied or anything. But he (and he still does) goes from "not needing it at all" to "it's coming now!!" in about 30 seconds. The concept of a tactical wee is something he's only just starting to get.
Even his secondary school teachers are generally happy for him to go to the toilet.
If he ever had a big accident then there would be a formal complaint with your name on it.
It wouldn't be an accident if they were told they couldn't go but were unable to control their bodily function any longer
And this is the cruz of the problem I have with this thread; what started as an ironclad rule now seems to be getting to more of a guideline.
And yet @Misscollette is still sticking to her guns. Not one single person here has come out agreeing with her original pretext - and yet she's still pushing the issue, albeit with more and more flexibility.
Isn't it about time she worked out that - no such a rule as she originally suggested should be put in place and that yes, you have to take each case on it's merits.
As a teacher is it really hard to see if Mary-Jane always takes a pee break but that John never does except for today and so Mary-Jane's parents need to be contacted and John should be allowed to go to the bathroom?
Why even have a rule? Is that needed? Surely this is an understanding thing, not a 'rule' thing.
If i knew about your sons circumstances I would have no problem him going as long as he wasn't taking advantage.
He doesn't have "circumstances", he's just a normal kid. This is what normal kids do.
Perhaps @Misscollette you need to start over with your original intent of your post and clearly define your rule, how and why it is implemented, and any exceptions to it
We appear to be getting things piecemeal regarding your intentions and thought process
We appear to be getting things piecemeal regarding your intentions and thought process
You have to have a rule that kids understand such as use the toilet at break unless you have a medical problem.
Otherwise you get John complaining but you let Mary Jane go Miss. Surely you see that?
Schools need rules.
That's not how you came in with this. You came in, all guns-a-blazin'
I don't let.
Your words, not ours.
Then you asked if parents would have an issue with this rule.
You're a teacher (or you at least purport to be) - can't you see how words matter? You can have a minor 'rule' that you tell the kids, but then, as a teacher, you use discretion. The fact that YOU felt you had to ask how, as parents, we'd feel, shows this was a 'hard fixed rule' with little or no wiggle room.
Parents, educators and ex-school kids have all told you NO. Why you keep pushing?
Like I said if they have are ill, have a medical problem, or a girl has her period then I have no issue with them going.
It seems to me that there is a fundamental difference of perception in how you see this matter and how some others have come to view it.
Your posts suggest that you may have come to see this subject in terms of kids "taking advantage" and how "teachers can't have kids popping out for a wee whenever"; my experience - and that of others who have posted - is that most kids take the responsibility of expressing when they need to go quite seriously, and will only ask to go when they need to go; it is a part of growing up, and being encouraged to take responsibility for expressing their needs politely but clearly.
And yes, there will always be a few who will seek to take advantage on occasion; so what? Their peers will see through them, and will not necessarily be led by them unless compelling reasons in the classroom suggest that this may be prudent course of action to take.
Therefore, rather than being about bladder control, - and setting limits on children - I suspect that the entire thread is about the wider matter of actual control in a classroom.
Again, I reiterate that bladder control can come late to some kids, and even those with exemplary bladder control can regress - sometimes quite dramatically - when stressed by personal events in their domestic environment. For a teacher to be unable to understand and respond to this leaves me speechless.
Good grief: In my teaching days, I had students come up to me with stories: "I'm not feeling well; my dad/mum is sick/has cancer/my kid is feeling stressed/my girlfriend/boyfriend broke up with me and I'm feeling down" - when they needed an extension on a deadline for an essay; some colleagues would argue that I was a soft touch, and being taken advantage of on occasion, but, usually, I would argue the case fro the student to be cut some slack and given some sort of extension, if only for a day or so.
You show flexibility - especially with youngsters who have not developed physically or psychologically or mentally the degree of control - and self-control - one might hope to find from adults. And even adults are taken short.
Unless it is extreme circumstances they don't go. Did the bullies get dealt with? Did your teacher change her rules after your accident?
But if they just desperately need a wee 30 minutes into class, **** em? Should've known in the break
Yeah, because bullying is THAT easy to deal with. You sure you're a teacher?
If they desperately need a wee 30 minutes after a break then yes they should have gone and be able to last the lesson.
This also promotes respect. If you respect your students to not take advantage of your flexibility, they will respect you and your flexibility, and want to prove that they are worthy of the respect you show them. That's how I personally felt about it when my teachers showed flexibility towards me anyway.
Now we have more exceptions added to the list
- medical note
- ill
- have a medical problem
- girl with a period
- emergencies
I agree there need to be rules
They need to be compassionately and wisely enforced
Abusers need to be dealt with individually without needing to blanket the group or make the honest outliers feel singled out
The examples you gave were quite horrible, as a teacher I would spot that.Did your teacher change her rule?
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