If schools trust students to manage h90omework, deadlines, and exams, they should trust them to make the simple decision of when they need to use the bathroom.
Not only should we not have to ask, but teachers shouldn’t be allowed to deny the right to use the bathroom either. In the article ¨Our Bodies Don’t Operate on the School’s Clockwork: Why Students Need Bathroom Freedom By Ada Gordon’’, The author discusses the importance of why students should be allowed to leave the class to use the bathroom: ¨For female students who need to address their sanitary product needs, an inability to do so in a timely fashion, can result in toxic shock syndrome, a life-threatening complication caused by leaving a menstrual product in the body for an extended period of time.¨
In recent interviews conducted with the Triton voice, students have been denied or held back from going to the bathroom.
Sophomore Arianna Diecidue stated in an interview, “On certain occasions, I have been asked to wait as long as 20 minutes to go to the bathroom by my teachers.“
Senior Alliemay Bishop also stated, “Yes, my teacher told me I had to wait until I finished my work, and then I could use the restroom, and then he let somebody else go before me.”
Having to ask for the bathroom also leads to more distractions from class; teachers have to stop what they’re doing to answer, and students get distracted and thrown off by the pause in the lesson.
“I think raising your hand would be more distracting because you’re taking time out of the teacher’s speaking to the other students,” stated Bishop in a recent interview.
Although there can be problems that start in the bathroom, there are solutions to those problems. In the article “How to Create School Bathroom Rules” by Jeanne Sager, the author states, “The bathroom can quickly become a hangout spot for students if too many are allowed to use the restroom at any one time.”
While students may handle homework, deadlines, and exams, she admits that allowing them to leave for the bathroom without asking could lead to misuse of time, increased classroom disruptions, and difficulty ensuring student safety. It also can lead to students leaving multiple times, or even too many students at a time. Which can be true unless we set up some other rules to help prevent this.
A solution to this problem: Each class could have one boy pass and one girl pass hanging in front of the door. If there isn’t a pass, that means it’s being used, and you can’t leave. We also have a bathroom monitor, which will make sure there’re not too many people in the bathroom at a time, preventing the bathroom from becoming a hangout spot.
When we asked math teacher Mr Max Girouard how he would feel about this new policy, he stated, “I think students should still ask to go to the bathroom as it is not always the appropriate time for a bathroom break.”
But when we asked sophomore student Joshua Ferris, he said he disagreed, “If you have to go, go; there is no point in asking. No one should be able to decide if you can perform your bodily functions.”
In the end, school rules should balance both responsibility and the basic needs of the students. While it’s important to prevent misuse and keep classrooms running smoothly, students shouldn’t feel restricted when it comes to something like using the bathroom.
By creating simple systems like passes and monitoring without being overly strict, the school can maintain order while still respecting students. A fair policy isn’t about control but about its focus on trust and safety. And making sure everyone can focus on their learning.
