Going to the toilet during lessons.

[casperes1996]

If they desperately need a wee 30 minutes after a break then yes they should have gone and be able to last the lesson.

As has been said in this thread a few times, children aren't always as in control of their bladders as you are, and they won't necessarily be able to know if they'll need a wee in 30 minutes.
I'm still that way with hunger. I go from "I'm not hungry at all" to "I'm starving!" in no time, and there are no steps in between for me. I have to cook whilst I'm feeling full, knowing that it's been so and so many hours since I last ate, so it'll come soon. Now children don't plan ahead in that way, thinking "I haven't peed for so and so many hours, and I've had this much liquid - even though it feels fine now, it might not in 30 minutes" - Some kids may have that thought, but not nearly all.

 

[motulist]

Honestly, I'm really angry at you already, and I don't even know you or any of the kids in your class. It's disgusting that you feel like you have the right to tell kids that they can't attend to their own bodily needs.

Kids should be able to go to the bathroom when they need to, and if a particular kid winds up going more than they should, then you should speak to them about it privately.

Seriously.

 

[Misscollette]

Honestly, I'm really angry at you already, and I don't even know you or any of the kids in your class. It's disgusting that you feel like you have the right to tell kids that they can't attend to their own bodily needs.

Kids should be able to go to the bathroom when they need to, and if a particular kid winds up going more than they should, then you should speak to them about it privately.

Seriously.

You let kids go whenever the class would be continuously empty.

 

[casperes1996]

You let kids go whenever the class would be continuously empty.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by that? Does that mean that if they are doing group work, where they're allowed to work around the school, pee breaks are OK?

 

[akash.nu]

Didn’t read the whole post but it just baffles me how the OP actually thought it’s ok to not let the kids go to the toilet!

Seriously?! - “it should be ok to not pee for a couple of hours”?! I mean, where do you even get such ideas from?!

 

[Misscollette]

Could you elaborate on what you mean by that? Does that mean that if they are doing group work, where they're allowed to work around the school, pee breaks are OK?

I mean if you let every child go on demand it would be a revolving door

 

[TiggrToo]

The examples you gave were quite horrible, as a teacher I would spot that.Did your teacher change her rule?

No, she did not. Which is why the bullying went from Junior school to my third year of comprehensive where it finally dropped off.

That was in the late 70's to the very early 80's.

However, speaking to some of my friends with kids in school still in the UK, they tell me that, in their eyes, despite the many changes, it still goes on.
[doublepost=1519748019][/doublepost]

I mean if you let every child go on demand it would be a revolving door

Oh good grief. Have you missed where, I for one, suggested you start keeping an eye out for 'repeat offenders' and then isolate why that is?

 

[motulist]

You let kids go whenever the class would be continuously empty.

Only 1 kid allowed out at a time. I didn't think I needed to even mention that because it's such a universal system.

 

[Misscollette]

No, she did not. Which is why the bullying went from Junior school to my third year of comprehensive where it finally dropped off.

That was in the late 70's to the very early 80's.

However, speaking to some of my friends with kids in school still in the UK, they tell me that, in their eyes, despite the many changes, it still goes on.
[doublepost=1519748019][/doublepost]

Oh good grief. Have you missed where, I for one, suggested you start keeping an eye out for 'repeat offenders' and then isolate why that is?

Most schools do restrict toilet use.

 

[TiggrToo]

You let kids go whenever the class would be continuously empty.

Odd, you say that, yet when I got to comprehensive school, there were no such rules - and we didn't have a problem.

 

[casperes1996]

I mean if you let every child go on demand it would be a revolving door

If that really is the case then the school you work at either have incredibly large classrooms with 100 students per teacher, or children that are immensely exploitative compared to what children normally are.

Nobody here is advocating that your classroom should be perpetually disturbed. We're just saying that if a kid asks for permission to go, it's probably for a good reason
[doublepost=1519748165][/doublepost]

Most schools do restrict toilet use.

Restrict it to the point that you have to ask, yes. Ban toilet use unless you can prove that you have medical issues? Nope

 

[Misscollette]

Odd, you say that, yet when I got to comprehensive school, there were no such rules - and we didn't have a problem.

I can't speak for secondary, although our toilets were locked in secondary during lessons.

 

[TiggrToo]

Is it me, or is the OP pretty much intractable and not really interested in opinions. She seems to be very determined to re-enforce why she still feels she's in the right.

"Some people you just can't reach..."

 

[MacDawg]

This discussion has ceased to make sense

OP doesn't forbid students from going to the toilet, she clearly has exceptions to the rule
Nobody responding to the thread believes everyone should get up and come and go as they please
There obviously needs to be structure and rules that are reasonably and compassionately enforced

OP seems to just be contrary at this point and not worth the effort

 

[casperes1996]

I can't speak for secondary, although our toilets were locked in secondary during lessons.

Are you talking about when you went to secondary school? Either, respectfully, you're quite old, or you went to school in North Korea

 

[Misscollette]

Are you talking about when you went to secondary school? Either, respectfully, you're quite old, or you went to school in North Korea

I'm 26 and yes secondary in England.

 

[TiggrToo]

This discussion has ceased to make sense

OP doesn't forbid students from going to the toilet, she clearly has exceptions to the rule
Nobody responding to the thread believes everyone should get up and come and go as they please
There obviously needs to be structure and rules that are reasonably and compassionately enforced

OP seems to just be contrary at this point and not worth the effort

Totally agree. I'm pulling out myself - the OP doesn't seem to want to care about the fact that she asked the community for an opinion and that opinion was pretty much 100% negative. Yet she continues to push.

"Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye."

 

[casperes1996]

I'm 26 and yes secondary in England.

Right.... May I ask an unrelated question? Why did you ask MacRumors about this?

 

[Lioness~]

If kids are allowed to go when they need to, they don't abuse it if the teacher is a good one that they like and respect. Respect is earned.

If they start to run out irregularly in a flock, you can be pretty sure that the problem isn't their bladder.
BUT the teacher all they way. They don't like him or her.

If the teacher can't connect with kids for real, it sounds exactly as OP does.
That is what this thread is about IMO.

Change job, do something that you have sincere passion for instead of harassing these kids.

 

[arkitect]

After a bit of research I found the OP's School's online brochure…

Look how happy the kiddos look.

 

[mollyc]

Do you keep track of the girls’ monthly schedules, too, so you can be sure they are having their periods?

This whole concept is absurd. I have the smallest bladder in my entire family. As I kid I was always the one asking for bathroom stops on road trips. Guess what. As an adult, it’s still me, and my kids can outlast me by a long margin. Luckily my husband gets it and stops as many times as I need. I know as an adult to limit beverages when traveling, and I will go all afternoon without drinking anything to help minimize stops. But in school, with a bathroom two doors down? I can be in and out in 45 seconds.

Let’s the kids go when they need.

 

[TiggrToo]

After a bit of research I found the OP's School's online brochure…

Look how happy the kiddos look.

Those prototype G4 PowerMac's the kids have on their desks?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

If they desperately need a wee 30 minutes after a break then yes they should have gone and be able to last the lesson.

Rubbish. And horribly controlling.

You let kids go whenever the class would be continuously empty.

I mean if you let every child go on demand it would be a revolving door

Absolute stuff and nonsense.

You asked a question, and have adamantly refused to accept anything in the answers you have been given, answers which have been informed by experience, knowledge and more than a little wisdom.

As @casperes1996 and @Lioness~ have pointed out, if you treat kids with respect, the vast majority of the time that is what you get in return.

And as @TiggrToo has made clear, the effects of the petty and vicious humiliations meted out to kids whose bladders have failed them may last years if not decades.

And seriously: Only sadists and micro-managing control freaks think to lock lavatories during class. Good grief - what if a kid needs to throw up? Or has a bad case of diarrhoea?

 

[bunnspecial]

I'm not a parent, and in all honesty at the level I teach my students would get a strange look if they even asked to go. Many college students will make the mistake of "asking" once(as in high school), while others catch on that when you need to go take care of whatever there's nothing wrong with just getting up and leaving.

I can recall teachers in elementary school chastising for not going during breaks, but never not allowing. As I got older, I don't recall anyone being denied a break unless they made a habit of it. There again, students didn't abuse it, and teachers didn't deny it.

I can recall one middle school teacher saying "If you have an emergency-just go. We can figure out the rest later. I'd rather not have to mop your puke up off the floor." It was implied though that "emergency" could be of any sort of the sudden need to rid oneself of some sort of bodily fluid.

So, yes, I'd say that a hard-line stance is bad for a lot of reasons. There again, if someone asks 5 minutes after a break, remind them but don't make them sit there for the rest of the lesson with their mind someplace else and the possibility of an accident happening that's going to lead to even more shame and problems.

 

[Allyance]

Thank God I was never in your class! You came on here and asked our opinion, yet you were adamant about your position, never giving an inch. Makes me think you would be just as hard nosed about about other situations. Why did even bother to ask?