Bathroom usage: Would you contact the school?

[Anonymous]

DD8th came home today and said she was tardy from two of her six classes today due to the school allowing only one kid in the bathroom at a time between classes due to a vandalism incident last week. They aren’t allowed to leave class for bathrooms, either, due to kids abusing the privilege—I guess they are allowed one “emergency pass” per class, per quarter.

So, she was tardy twice because she was waiting in line to take care of her feminine hygiene. Is this something you’d contact the school in regards to? It seems unfairly punitive and ridiculous, especially considering they can’t leave class. I’m unsure how to proceed, but I know she can’t be tardy five days a month.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely! I'm so sick of this bathroom lockdown nonsense. Even if you have to put a staff person in there during breaks, kids need to use the bathroom FFS

[Anonymous]

Yea, I would contact them calmly, and cc the nurse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely! I'm so sick of this bathroom lockdown nonsense. Even if you have to put a staff person in there during breaks, kids need to use the bathroom FFS

Can I jump on this bandwagon? I feel like men are behind this trend and it’s getting to be ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think you have to fix tardies. They don’t affect anything.

[Anonymous]

That’s absurd. I would get her a vague doctor’s note and tell admin that you trust you won’t hear about the issue again.

[Anonymous]

What does "tardy" even mean though, when it comes to punishments?
Does she have to serve afterschool detentions for it? If not, who cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does "tardy" even mean though, when it comes to punishments?
Does she have to serve afterschool detentions for it? If not, who cares.

She is missing instructional time because she is still in the bathroom when the teachers starts a lesson. That's the real punishment.

[Anonymous]

This is absolutely ridiculous. I'd fight this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does "tardy" even mean though, when it comes to punishments?
Does she have to serve afterschool detentions for it? If not, who cares.

OP here. A certain number of tardies lands you in detention, and it then escalates to suspension. But I agree with a PP that the real punishment is that she’s unnecessarily missing classroom time.

[Anonymous]

Get reach for the principal to not care. So before this isuse makes youeven more frustrated, think about it....

Is your DD bathroom issue only because of "feminine hygiene". If so, it should not happen more than 5 time a month. Also, aren't the tardies counted per class? Is her bathroom visit at the same time each day? If so, a reasonable teacher should excuse at least one or two, especially if it's not being abused and the kid is otherwise a good and on-time student. This is a good learning opportunity for your kid. She doesn't need to thell the teacher WHY, just that she was waiting to use the bathroom.

I would tell my daughter to try and visit the bathroom earlier. But I am less concerned with a few tardies or unexcused absences. 5 minutes is not going to affect her learning that much - the average teacher does not start teaching critical material for a 9am class at 9am on the dot.

Also the administration probably knows the issue, because they can see the kids walking in the hall after class starts or waiting to use the bathroom. I'd save my "Mom handling my kids problem" email for a bigger hill.

[Anonymous]

I support you emailing. I support ALL of us emailing. It's utterly ridiculous that they punish a whole school of kids with limited bathroom access due to the actions of a few kids. I feel like this is basically a Geneva Convention violation. It would definitely be an OSHA violation. I don't know why we can get away with treating kids like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get reach for the principal to not care. So before this isuse makes youeven more frustrated, think about it....

Is your DD bathroom issue only because of "feminine hygiene". If so, it should not happen more than 5 time a month. Also, aren't the tardies counted per class? Is her bathroom visit at the same time each day? If so, a reasonable teacher should excuse at least one or two, especially if it's not being abused and the kid is otherwise a good and on-time student. This is a good learning opportunity for your kid. She doesn't need to thell the teacher WHY, just that she was waiting to use the bathroom.

I would tell my daughter to try and visit the bathroom earlier. But I am less concerned with a few tardies or unexcused absences. 5 minutes is not going to affect her learning that much - the average teacher does not start teaching critical material for a 9am class at 9am on the dot.

Also the administration probably knows the issue, because they can see the kids walking in the hall after class starts or waiting to use the bathroom. I'd save my "Mom handling my kids problem" email for a bigger hill.

No doubt in my mind that you're a man. As a woman and a mom, this is absolutely something i would bother the administration with. It's a great learning opportunity for the school to figure out how to manage the children's physical needs without punishing them. Enough is enough. Adults can do better than simply locking up bathrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I support you emailing. I support ALL of us emailing. It's utterly ridiculous that they punish a whole school of kids with limited bathroom access due to the actions of a few kids. I feel like this is basically a Geneva Convention violation. It would definitely be an OSHA violation. I don't know why we can get away with treating kids like this.

+1 from a parent of teens and a teacher. It's maddening because it's the same kids over and over again. They've learned they can get away with destroying school property with no consequences. Start giving them OSS each time or send them to the Hearings Office for vandalism and you'd see the problem clear up fast. Before anyone says that's causing them to miss instruction, get real. These kids are already missing instruction because they're busy wandering the hallways or messing up the bathrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get reach for the principal to not care. So before this isuse makes youeven more frustrated, think about it....

Is your DD bathroom issue only because of "feminine hygiene". If so, it should not happen more than 5 time a month. Also, aren't the tardies counted per class? Is her bathroom visit at the same time each day? If so, a reasonable teacher should excuse at least one or two, especially if it's not being abused and the kid is otherwise a good and on-time student. This is a good learning opportunity for your kid. She doesn't need to thell the teacher WHY, just that she was waiting to use the bathroom.

I would tell my daughter to try and visit the bathroom earlier. But I am less concerned with a few tardies or unexcused absences. 5 minutes is not going to affect her learning that much - the average teacher does not start teaching critical material for a 9am class at 9am on the dot.

Also the administration probably knows the issue, because they can see the kids walking in the hall after class starts or waiting to use the bathroom. I'd save my "Mom handling my kids problem" email for a bigger hill.

Five times a month? I needed to change my pad or tampon every two hours for the first 72 hours of my period (even through the night) for the first ten years I had it. I went to the bathroom like 3-4 times a day for 3-4 days each cycle.