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Should students be expected to “hold it” until a scheduled bathroom break?
Results so far:
| Yes | 22% | 79 votes | Total: 364 votes | |
| No | 78% | 285 votes |
Yes
by Kelly Miller
Created on: March 07, 2010 Last Updated: March 10, 2010
When I first started teaching, whenever any student would ask to go to the bathroom the answer was, “Of course!” Why shouldn’t a student be allowed to go when they have to go? I learne quickly that this caused many more problems. Before anyone gets upset and thinks what a cruel teacher I must be, please note that obviously I realize there are emergency situations but those are few and far between, even in elementary school. There are also ways to weed out those situations.
In an elementary school setting activities hardly last for more than 45 minutes. That is a reasonable amount of time to expect a child to wait between bathroom breaks. In my case, in physical education, I only have students for thirty minutes twice a week. When one child has to go to the bathroom, the rest all of a sudden have to go as well. That would take a thirty minute class down to nothing. Obviously, there are emergency situations that arise. When a child asks to go to the bathroom I always tell them we have “X” amount of minutes left in class: can you wait till then? There answer is usually yes. If their answer is no, I let them go. In many cases, whether it’s physical education or any other class, when you are working in groups, teams, or partners, when one leaves it leaves the rest of the students hanging and out of sync until that student returns.
In middle and high school, bathroom breaks create another new set of problems. Bathroom time for this age level is used more for social time then actual bathroom time. Students tend to coordinate bathroom time to meet friends, pick fights, make sure they look good or just plain get out of doing things. This age group is also expected to hold it much longer. The longest a middle/high school block would be is ninety minutes. This is a reasonable expectation.
So besides the obstacles bathroom breaks create in a school setting, having children wait for appropriate times also teaches valuable lessons. It teaches respect. I wouldn’t leave my class to go to the bathroom out of respect for what I am doing and the students in my room. Just as, except for emergency situations, my students don’t leave my class out of respect for their fellow students and what activity to are doing. It teaches patience and priority as well. As long as students know a time is coming for bathroom and water breaks they do not have the need to ask for additional times.
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No
by Michael Bates
Created on: March 29, 2010
As a regular education second grade teacher, this subject has been one with which I have struggled over the years. Over 14 years in education, I have found the answer to lie in the teacher's intuition. At the beginning of the year, I am very lenient with students who request to go to the restroom. This allows me to figure out which students are taking advantage of a chance to take a little walk, or to get out of instructional time.
Every class has the few children who would be in the bathroom every 15 minutes if they were permitted to go. However, these few should not lead to a hard and fast rule that the only time to go to the restroom is at scheduled times. A child who really has to go will be too distracted and too distracting to learn anyway. Thus, it does no good to make a child wait. Not only is the child not learning, those around her are not able to concentrate due to the wiggling and dancing she is doing at her desk.
I have a simple solution to the problem in my classroom that seems to work as a middle ground between a strict schedule and a "bathroom at any time" policy. First, I have scheduled bathroom breaks at regular intervals during the school day. The students never stop working, but I will send small groups to go if the have to. Generally, most students use those times to go to the restroom and do not ask to go at any other time. Second, I have a hard and fast rule that no one may go to the restroom during direct instruction. If I am teaching a whole class lesson, I do not permit anyone to go to the restroom. If I am working with a small group, no one in that group may go. However, during independent work time or other times when I am not actively teaching, I will allow one child at a time out of the room to use the restroom. The child goes to the door, waits for me to acknowledge him and then may leave to use the restroom. When I acknowledge the child, I check the clock and make a mental note of the amount of time the child is out of the room. This policy seems to work with second graders, and I rarely have anyone who tries to take advantage of it anymore.
This topic brings to mind a story from about 10 years ago when I had a student who used to ask to use the restroom at the same time almost every day. Eventually, I became suspicious. So, after acknowledging her at the door, I gave her 10 seconds then went out the door. I noticed that the girl was simply taking a walk around the school to wave at her friends in their rooms at the same time every day. The school was built in a big circle, so she could go all the way around the school before I would begin to wonder what was taking her so long. Because she didn't know I was onto her, she was very surprised when I went the opposite way and met her coming around a corner. Needless to say, this girl was not permitted to go to the restroom outside of scheduled breaks for quite awhile after that.
I think the key to this issue is flexibility. Children should be in school to learn and it is difficult to learn if you are distracted either by illness or by a need for the restroom. If a teacher has a clear, flexible and reasonable policy, it should never be an issue.
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