One parent just went viral with a social media post about the bathroom policy at their child’s school.
That poster isn’t alone—across the country, there are parents who have concerns about how schools are handling bathroom breaks, and no cohesive policy exists to balance kids’ academic needs, bathroom needs, and safety.
Instead, policies are made by districts, schools, and individual teachers, and they can be contradictory, uncomfortable, and sometimes unsafe.
The Viral Post That Caught The Internet’s Attention
A Twitter user who goes by the name MamaSitaa__ posted about her child’s classroom experience. She was concerned about one teacher’s policy of allowing a single bathroom break per week and offering extra credit to the kids who don’t use it.
In further tweets, she added that her child (whose age and school she didn’t share) has waited for over 30 minutes while needing a bathroom and that many of the bathrooms in the school are currently under construction, which can makes it harder to duck into one between classes.
She has since muted replies because the post, which went viral, has received not only plenty of replies from people who agree with her and shared their own kids’ experiences but many others from angry dissenters whose responses were vitriolic and sometimes vile. For example, she shared one screenshot of a message from a coach who got political, said he hoped she was deported, and then added more nastiness beyond their initial comments.
However, the responses haven’t stopped, and it’s clear many parents are concerned about school bathroom policies.
Some School Bathroom Policies Are Endangering Children’s Health
One commenter described a situation in which bathroom policies were so severe that the child became anxious, stopped using the school bathrooms, and ended up with a UTI, after which the parent intervened.
Another said a similar policy at her child’s school ended when a child wet his pants in class, resulting in a mess that needed to be cleaned up.
Many more talked about issues with menstruation and teachers who set unreasonable limits leading to embarrassment and the need to call home for a change of clothing or about various medical problems that made overly strict bathroom regulations a danger to students.
Many even remembered their own experiences from childhood and discussed ongoing trauma.
It was widely agreed that the policy is dangerous or even abusive and that it could result in lifelong problems.
Some Schools Are Facing Backlash For Limiting Bathroom Access
Earlier this year, a school district in Ohio made headlines when schools started locking bathrooms during the day. The policy was declared as a response to teens using bathrooms — the most private and hidden area of a school — for vaping, smoking, and fighting, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
But this kind of restrictive policy doesn’t only stop vaping and fighting. It also prevents students from using restrooms for their intended use.
Students described confusion about which restrooms are currently available and simply chose not to go instead of trying to figure it out. They also complained that the extremely restrictive policies made them feel that teachers didn’t trust them.
Even school employees said that it was a problem, particularly for some disabled students who need staff help to access the bathrooms.
School Restroom Access Is An Ongoing Battleground
Schools have spent decades trying to stop teens from using restrooms for illicit activities. The issue even made it into a popular song in 1973, when Brownsville Station sang Smokin’ In The Boys Room, which included the lyrics:
“Checkin’ out the halls makin’ sure the coast is clear, lookin’ in the stalls, no, there ain’t nobody here…”
Students — at least those who aren’t smoking or vaping — also say they want a restroom that is free of smoke and nicotine vapor. Many agree it’s a problem to solve.
However, they don’t want the solution to be a 7-hour day (or longer) in which they don’t use bathrooms or limit their fluid intake to minimize the need for bathrooms. Parents also don’t want the solution to result in UTIs, medical problems, and difficulty for girls while menstruating.
There Is No Cohesive Standard Or Policy For School Restroom Use
When examining the tweet about a child getting extra credit for not using the restroom, Parents found that there are not really any standards in place to control how schools handle bathroom policies.
The National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) declined to provide any input other than that they don’t have an official position. Most schools don’t even have an overarching policy. Instead, it’s typically left to individual teachers to figure out how they’ll balance academic time and student needs.
What Are Alternative Solutions?
In recent years, some schools have started implementing anti-vape devices that can detect smoke, vapor, and other particles, as well as shouts for help or other loud noises.
There are drawbacks to those, too, such as complaints of invasion of privacy and false positive results that have resulted in at least one student being searched for merely using a spray deodorant. Still, they are at least a solution that doesn’t stop an entire student body from accessing restrooms as needed.
Bathroom passes can also be issued, and access can be limited for students who have abused the option before. (This can also be done without giving kids a grade incentive to deny their body’s needs.)
Some schools and teachers also have policies that allow students to use the bathroom, but not within the first or last 5 minutes of class, or that limit restroom trips during instructional time to emergencies. Some teachers use a sign-out sheet to watch for patterns in case a student is trying to use the time to meet with a friend from another class.
Many parents say that their personal policy is to tell their children that if they have a genuine need and are denied, they should walk out and let the parent deal with it later.
A National Policy Could Solve Some Problems
If the U.S. Department of Education created a standard policy on student bathroom access, it could be a blueprint for schools across the country, even if it was only a recommendation rather than a requirement.
It could also help if there were precedents or official recognitions that denying kids bathroom access is dangerous and harmful.
Schools may have to shift priorities and focus a little more on allowing kids to carry out necessary bodily functions and using other methods to minimize misuse of that access. But to do that, policy recommendations would have to help and encourage schools to make that shift.
