Hey people, during my school years, we always had to ask the teacher to go to the bathroom. Like “May I use the bathroom?”, if they said no we were left to our devices which I think is inhumane.( Was a victim myself) What do you guys think especially the teachers about this system considering how difficult it is to manage classroom discipline?
Fair number of answers, no one saying what country they are from
US here, we had to ask but it was basically always a yes.
Reasons for a no:
Middle of a test
Middle of explaining something important, then you might be asked to wait a few minutes
If you were just abusing the system asked always asking just to get out of class they would probably start saying no. If you had a medical issue you could always meet the teacher after class or before school and say you have a medical issue that prevents your from waiting. It it was a sudden thing like diarrhea… Well just get up and go.
Also USA. My teachers ran the gamut from not letting anyone to treating us like adults. My school was VERY white with only a handful of black kids across all of high school. One of the teachers was well known for never letting the black kids go until one of them went and peed in his trash can to prove a point.
The ones who treated us like adults got treated with the most respect. Weird how that works.
Above 16 years old we were allowed to take smoke breaks during exams. :)
Only during the final exams we had to be accompanied by a teacher to the toilet and back to the class, smoking was not allowed. Otherwise we basically only had to inform the teacher when we wanted to go to the toilet or go smoking. ;) Ah, the nineties.
In our kids’ elementary school, the rule at the start of year was that kids tell the teacher they have to go, then they simply go. Notifying the teacher is mandatory, 'cos they are responsible for the kids, they need to know where they are.
This was slightly changed since, because of bullies. While the vast majority of kids can go to the bathroom whenever they want, bullies don’t: they can only go alone, or supervised. So if there’s anyone else out, from any class, they have to wait. If it is urgent, a teacher or another adult will go with them, and stand by the door, close enough to intervene if need be.
In elementary school you needed to ask and take some wooden tag from the class room. Couldn’t go if the tag was gone, so only one person at the time. In middle school you don’t ask, you just say you’re going.
Netherlands btw
No bathroom breaks during classes.
You can’t leave classroom without good cause.
When you ask for permission to use the toilet, there are low chances to grant it. Unless you are a girl, gender bias.Good luck to find an empty toilet, if you have “shy bladder”, between classes.
Girls have periods at inconvenient times.
But holding a pee isn’t healthy for everyone.
Also you should be hydrated during a day.
Germany: basically after you’re out if elementary school (10/11), youre expected to only use the bathrooms in breaks or between lessons (at our school, you’d have two 45 minute lessons and then a 20min break in between). If you go in between lessons, you were supposed to tell the teacher, but you didn’t need to ask for permission. Going during the lesson was basically a emergency only thing.
I don’t think that’s unreasonable or inhumane. Your not a toddler, you can hold your pee for a while and plan ahead. I can’t remember anyone ever having an accident or problem with it.
In elementary school, during the final year (age 12 or 13) I had a teacher whose system was during work periods you could leave whenever you wanted, but there was a board at the door to mark your name with a clothes pin.
Going to high school, it went back to having to ask for permission, or give a heads up in later years.
