This is a very difficult one. I agree that if a child needs to go then they need to go and should be allowed but at the same time I do think that there are some children that would use this as an excuse just to be disruptive if you are 100% sure that this is not your child I would get in touch with the teacher and discuss this with them.

My daughter also told me that her teacher dont allow the kids to use the toilet during the class and she also stop the children from drinking water during the class so they dont need to go to the toilet, I was very angry when I heard that specially about not letting them drinking the water so me and other parents complained to the principal and after that she give them 5 minutes time to go to the toilet if they need to during the class.

I remember hearing about an adult who sued his school because of bladder problems that began with this kind of policy. I think he won, too.

I would be upset too when this was my child.

That poor girl. Some kids would surely take advantage of being able to go to the toilet at any time, so I suppose that is something that the teachers should be able to use their discretion with.

as a teacher I certainly don’t like to restrict the children to go to the toilet – particularly when they are younger. when I was casual though, I’d have some schools I’d get in trouble from if I let the child go to the toilet during class. It does take discretion though – if a child goes more than twice in one class session without a medical reason, I am inclined to stop them from going after that.

Poor girls! That would be very embarrassing. I can see how annoying it would be as the teacher though. You let one go, then everyone needs to go. But maybe they should start reminding kids to go the toilet just before class starts again? Not sure if they do that already. None of my kids are school age yet.

Happened to my daughter in kindy! I was SO mad and my daughter was a very responsible little girl. She actually needed to go. When I picked her up and she told me that, the next day I had a meeting with the Principal. It’s unacceptable to enforce this!

This is not a new thing. 70 years ago I remember asking to go, told no, and sat there with a pool at my feet. Never again did I go into class without going to the loo first. My teacher, Miss Rogers, apologized to me, as she thought I just wanted to get out of that lesson which she thought I didn’t like. She went out of her way with me and taught me how wonderful that lesson was and that is what I remember these days, not that I had a puddle beneath my chair. Children have to learn how to control their bladder and sometimes they never learn till they get to school because mum always lets them go when they say. It has happened for many years and will happen for many more.

This is just awful. Although as a teacher, I do understand that sometimes children will say that they need to go to the toilet just to get out of doing something. I don’t think I have ever said no when a child has asked to go to the toilet.

This is so stupid. If you ask a young child if they want to go to the toilet they will usually say no because, to them they don’t need to go at that time. I can also understand the teacher saying no if they are doing it too often but not if it’s only occasionally. If all the children go out to recess at the same time, by the time it’s their turn they are due back in class.

This is so wrong. When I was in Grade Prep, the teacher wouldn’t let me go to the toilet and needless to say, I had an accident-then she had the gall to yell at me!!!!

Utterly ridiculous. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

I appreciate going to the toilet during class time is discouraged, but this is ridiculous and I would imagine flies in the face of ‘duty of care’ for students. The embarrassment it can and will cause if someone has an accident, will be traumatic. What about a bit of common sense.

Going in class time was discouraged when I was in school. I don’t think they should be refused to the point of an accident but it does need to be reinforced.

I think there possibly might be more to this story the mother should be speaking to the teacher first to find out why possible the child mucks around when they go to the toilet or had already been or maybe the teacher said I a few moments unfortunately you don’t want you child having an accident but things do happen

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  • • mom358849 replied
    • 28 Mar 2019 , 6:35 am

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  That’s a good point. As a teacher, I urge all parents, when their child comes home with a school issue, to take a deep breath and keep calm. Sometimes, children don’t tell parents the full story because of confusion or the wrong perception, and other times to cover their own wrongdoing. Please, please, do not jump to conclusions and immediately denigrate the teacher to the child or worse, post negative, and sometimes defamatory comments about her on social media. The best thing to do is go and meet with the teacher and discuss your concerns. In most cases, parents find that thy didn’t get the complete set o facts. After that, teacher and parent can sort the issue out together.

How horrible the this child, if you need to go you should go. This is going to bring fear for the child and have huge consequences for the future. It can lead to bladder infections and more if you do not listen to your body, and a child is learning these cues and being shut down, horrible, disgusting, I hope the teacher cleaned up the mess and reassured the child it had done nothing wrong.

This is awful let them go when they need! Much better than having to clean up accidents!

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  • • mom358849 replied
    • 28 Mar 2019 , 6:56 am

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  How true! A few years ago I went to relieve a deputy principal. He had to sit on an interview panel and I was sent to take his class. I arrived early, and began helping a group of children finish their task before he left and I began the next lesson. There was a commotion at another group, and the smell soon told us why. A little boy had soiled himself. Badly. It turned out that this little boy had a medical condition, and diarrhoea was a consequence. He had asked his teacher a couple of times to be allowed to go to the toilet, but because the teacher was eager to get the lesson finished before he went off to sit on the panel, he suggested the child waited. Big mistake. Because of WHS rules, the office staff were not allowed to clean him up, and the boy’s mother had to collect him. My policy has always been to allow a child to go to the toilet, even if I know he/she is having a lend of me. Apart from the mess, it is utterly humiliating for a child to have an accident in class. After this incident, the principal directed teachers to allow children to go to the toilet when they asked. I think most teachers do this.

they should be allowed to go when they need to

If a child needs to go then they should go, holding on for a small amount is okay, not so much that a child has an accident