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Corporatizing a Child’s Basic Needs: Another Worry

February 22, 2015 By Nancy Bailey 6 Comments

Post Views: 63

I have been reading about the “Pay to Potty” plans in two schools where children had accidents and parents rightly got mad. You would think such a thing couldn’t have happened, and I know that in both situations the schools backed off. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the plan resurfaced again later. While these particular incidents sparked controversy with some, and others thought it was just unfortunate and no big deal, the Pay to Potty or the Pay to Pee plan is right up the corporate alley of using harsh discipline to keep students in line.

Think of the revered school activities that have been discontinued under the appearance of helping students learn better. Who would have ever thought that young children would be made to sit for long periods with few breaks…tested over-and-over…with tests that will fire teachers and close schools?

Did you ever think children would lose recess? And who can believe how the use of personal information is given little consideration when it comes to student confidentiality? Strictly regulating bathroom visits seems like just another controlling feature of new corporate school reforms.

Children are viewed as products to be managed–not human beings with normal needs.

A child’s bathroom etiquette fits deceptively into this plan of harsh discipline involving children. There probably isn’t a teacher around who hasn’t dealt with a student who used the bathroom to get out of class. Usually it involves deeper school problems or even a health issue.

Getting tough on students might appear like it is the right thing to do, because it’s an annoyance when they gotta go during test prep. Or worse, they’re taking the test! So the push is to come up with something to keep children in line and away from the bathrooms. Sometimes the school administration sets the rules.

But do such rules consider the developmental level of the group? It used to be that teachers were especially careful with potty breaks for kindergartners due to their age level. In fact, the research indicates that students up to third grade still need special consideration when it comes to using the restroom. Has this protocol changed with the new rigor and higher expectations?

If a child is needing to go excessively, usually teachers and parents can figure out the problem and come up with a solution. Denying a child the right to go results not only in humiliation but serious health problems.

Here is a list of bathroom outrages:

  • In 2015, a kindergartner in Tarpon Springs, Florida was not permitted to go, had an accident and was put in a diaper and pants without the parent being called.
  • In 2015, another kindergartner in Lawtey, Florida had to sit in wet underwear for hours after having wet himself.
  • In 2014, in Vancouver, Washington, a third-grade student, in a Pay to Potty plan,  was given the choice to use play money to go to the bathroom or buy popcorn with her friend.  She chose the popcorn. After her accident she was made to wear boy shorts. Legal expert Jonathan Turley even weighed in on the ordeal.
  • In 2014, in Lebanon, Oregon, a first grade girl had an accident after saving her play money to purchase a trinket. With pressure from parents, the school dropped the pay plan, but they still penalize students if they require a bathroom break during instruction. They deny students recess.
  • In 2013, a charter school in Memphis, Tennessee was accused by parents of not permitting children to use the bathroom, resulting in the children wetting themselves. They also claimed the school took the shoes of the children as punishment.
  • In 2007, a Bronx school remodeled its girl’s bathroom and 130 students had to hold it in or use the boy’s bathroom in separate shifts. The school had two bathroom breaks during the day. The boy’s bathroom was also dirty.

Most everyone knows urinary tract infections in children are serious business and can occur if students are made to hold it too long. And repeatedly holding in No. 2 can lead to constipation which can lead to bowel obstruction.

But don’t take my word for it. Check out the UPI Study: “Elementary Schools Need A Lesson in Bathroom Breaks” by Dr. Christopher Cooper. Cooper’s original paper was published in the Journal of Urology. The title—“Do public schools teach voiding dysfunction? Results of an elementary school teacher survey.”

Pay to Potty and other punishing plans are harsh and draw negative attention to something that should be natural and a non-issue. You shouldn’t have to pay to pee with tokens or the loss of recess in order to use the restroom in your school.

And I have to say I don’t blame students for pushing the bathroom card these days. Could you sit all day without recess?

Here is a little analogy. As I wrote this it was icy cold outside and sleeting. I’d just made myself a cup of hot tea and was all settled into my work. My 15 year old Corgi suddenly showed up. She needed to go outside. I put on my heavy coat and braved the elements. I love my dog and she trusts me. I would never consider making her wait. It would be inhumane.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Pay to Pee, Potty accidents, School Privatization, Urinary Tract Infections

Comments

  1. marcie lipsitt says

    February 22, 2015 at 2:33 pm

    Nancy- I have not yet seen this. I assist parents with toileting plans under supplementary aids in IEPs and add necessry accomodations. I have had a situation that was just egregious. A mom was called to leave work to clean up her 5 year old and she found him sitting in his soiled clothing on a garbage bag. We filed an OCR complaint.

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      February 22, 2015 at 6:21 pm

      That’s horrible, Marcie! I am glad an OCR complaint was filed!

      Reply
  2. Teacher says

    February 22, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    On a related note, teachers are the only adults who can’t use the bathroom whenever they need to at work. We are allowed to go before and after school and at lunch. For secondary teachers, just like the 5-minute passing times aren’t long enough for students to go to the bathroom and make it to class on time, they’re definitely not long enough for us to go and get back ready to teach another class. Bathroom use is messed up in our school system all the way around.

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      February 22, 2015 at 6:24 pm

      You are preaching to the choir. I am no longer teaching, but remember the days. Every teacher should have a teaching assistant. Thanks for bringing this up. Very important point.

      Reply
  3. H.A. Hurley says

    February 22, 2015 at 9:55 pm

    What is wrong with our society that we treat our children with such meanness?
    We are teaching them to become mean and angry because they were treated with meanness. We are stripping them of their humanity for corporate profit.

    We are often surprised when children do mean things to others. We are surprised when our society has the highest crime, violence and highest number of people in prisons, highest number of children in poverty, and we continue to do so little. In fact, we are harming our youngest, our littlest ones and pretend we are helping them, or we are chosing to be helpless to stop the madness.
    To refuse to step in and protect them.
    We are ALL GUILTY and we must STOP, NOW!

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      February 22, 2015 at 10:43 pm

      I often wonder about this. I don’t understand it other than the fact that children have gotten caught up in the drive to privatize schools, as you note. I certainly share your frustration and worry about the future for children and for everyone really.

      Reply

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SPED Teacher, Author, PhD Ed. Leadership, Blogging for Kids, and Democratic Public Schools that should belong to all of us.

Nancy E. Bailey
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NancyEBailey1Nancy E. Bailey@NancyEBailey1·
16h

@PennBat I worry that many students with disabilities will miss out on inclusion classes with their non-disabled peers with vouchers. The best they will find are segregated charters or private schools that only focus on the disability.

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PennBatPA BATs R Pro Charter Reform@PennBat·
17h

1. You lost
2. Where are the Special Ed students supposed to go when all the public schools are gone and voucher schools won't accept them?

"School Choice" isn't for ALL kids. Anyone who says it is, is full of 💩 https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1513571301155348481

Corey A. DeAngelis@DeAngelisCorey

@RepKrajewski the money doesn't belong to the government schools.

education funding is meant for educating children, not for protecting a particular institution.

we should fund students, not systems.

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NancyEBailey1Nancy E. Bailey@NancyEBailey1·
18h

@SecCardona There's a place for technology. It's important. But so are teachers and a child's privacy. I wonder if you're paying attention to this, @SecCardona. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/2022/05/18/algorithmic-personalization-is-disrupting-a-healthy-teaching-environment/

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molly_esqMolly Esquivel@molly_esq·
21h

To prepare for @linakhanFTC discussion on #COPPA @Velislava777 and I shed light on the sidelining of #teachers and the soft power edtech wields in the classrooms. This is just the beginning. #edutwitter #edtech
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/2022/05/18/algorithmic-personalization-is-disrupting-a-healthy-teaching-environment/

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NancyEBailey1Nancy E. Bailey@NancyEBailey1·
17 May

Here are words & phrases indicating a change from public schools & teaching to all-tech instruction. https://nancyebailey.com/2022/05/17/6-terms-transforming-public-schools-to-the-all-tech-endgame/

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