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Is Using the Restroom at School a Privilege?

By: Isabella Pena

   Many students are unfortunately desensitized to the current manner in which bathroom time is handled by schools and enforced by teachers, much like myself, when caught up in between going from class to class without being late. It is not uncommon for students not go to the bathroom at all during school hours for several reasons that may or may not be specific to that individual. But what we fail to recognize in our monotonous routines is that refusing our bodies the chance to use the restroom for seven hours every day for five days a week (or more if you have any extracurricular activities) is not healthy. A pediatric urologist from the University of Iowa, Christopher Cooper, personally investigated the school scene of how accessible restroom breaks were to young children in school, and came out with a statement of “It started to seem like, if for eight hours a day you [as a teacher] are the primary caregiver for these children, you’re missing a potential opportunity to pick up on some abnormal things going on,” on When Schools Tell Kids They Can’t Use the Bathroom by The Atlantic.

   Teachers fail to notice this disturbingly normalized issue just as students have, but some seem to have differing policies that affect students differently. Unrestricted access to water for students can look like: keeping water or other drinks by your seat, being allowed to exit the room to drink from a water fountain, buying from a vending machine, or buying from a school store. Unrestricted access to at least water, but in other cases food and beverages, is not uncommon in schools and is often a sign of a good teacher. But it is around the same percentage of teachers who allow unrestricted access to water that also directly discourages students from using bathroom breaks during class time, which is contradictory when you think about the situation. It’s these teachers who dismiss students' needs for the restroom, and aggravate the already sour relationship in the classroom built on unfair treatment on both sides. Sadly, we are both suffering from the same system.


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