Teacher Arguments About Toilet Use Restrictions & Research-Based Answers
© 2004 by Laurie A. Couture, M.Ed, LMHC

I received the following letter from a female public middle school teacher in Washington D.C. It is typical of the types of responses I hear from school teachers who believe that toilet use should be regimented or denied. Below is the letter in its entirety. I answered it following the letter:

February 10, 2004 (Washington D.C., USA) Letter to ChildAdvocate.org:

Face it, even a four year old can sleep through the night (8 hours) without going to the bathroom. In my school, and every school I have ever heard of, students have free and unlimited use of bathrooms during lunch and recess. The teachers certainly don't get to go to the bathroom any other time. My argument is not so much that students shouldn't be able to use the bathroom, but that the problem just isn't this serious. Going to the bathroom whenever you want all school day? Ridiculous. It would be abused. As a secondary argument, who supervises the children en route to and in the bathroom? Were you aware that the teacher is legally responsible for the student even when the student is out of his site? For instance, a child gets hurt or attacked in the bathroom = teacher's fault. They WILL be sued and they will lose! That is why many teachers are hesitant to let students go by themselves."

Response by Laurie A. Couture, M.Ed:

Dear ________,

You raised several issues in your e-mail and I will attempt to address them all:

1. You stated that based on the fact that some 4 year olds "can sleep through the night without going to the bathroom", that school children, during waking hours, should be expected to retain waste for presumably as long. Some basic research on how the human body functions during nocturnal sleep vs. during the waking day would indicate that during the state of sleep, the body is not intaking any fluids or food, nor is it subjected to the numerous other physiological influences that it encounters during waking hours that effect urine and stool production. Additionally, during sleep, the body produces an increase in levels of the hormone vasopressin ADH, which suppresses and slows nighttime urine production. This allows some people to sleep through the night without the need to urinate, However, many children and adults alike wake once or twice during the night to use the toilet.

2. You state that "in my school, and every school I have ever heard of, students have free and unlimited use of bathrooms during lunch and recess." I am glad to hear that in your school, and those you have heard of, the human rights of children are respected during recess and lunch times. However, in many schools, including some I work in, this is absolutely NOT the case. Additionally, because every human body is different, to expect that every individual child in a class or school can synchronize his or her unique urinary and digestive systems to the time schedule of the school is contrary to facts about the human body.

3. You state that "the teachers certainly don't get to go to the bathroom any other time", indicating to me that you are implying that the needs and bodies of young people should conform to adult-level needs and expectations. Your statement also indicates that you feel that if teachers are restricted in toilet breaks, children should also suffer this indignity. In fact, teachers do have a legal right, mandated by OSHA laws, that they are to be allowed to use the toilet when ever needed. Teachers have the legal backing if they wish to pursue this matter. Children's needs, however, are at the mercy of the whims of teachers. Teachers also freely choose their professions, understanding full well the restrictions that will be placed upon them by their profession. Children do not have a choice about going to school- they are held hostages.

4. You state that "the problem (of toilet use denial) just isn't this serious." Unfortunately, the problem is very serious, it is pervasive and it results in real suffering, emotionally and physically as well as real medical problems (urinary tract infection, constipation, fecal impaction, urinary reflux, weakening of the brain-bladder/bowel signal, etc). In fact, in extreme cases, young people have been forced to urinate in their pants or in garbage cans because they were adamantly refused to be allowed to relieve themselves despite pleading several times. Some kids who have left the classroom in distress have been suspended. I strongly encourage you to view the letters sent in by parents who's children are suffering this type of abuse in the classroom so that you may see that in fact, this issue is a real problem that causes real distress for children:("parent letters"). I also invite you to view the page of letters by people who have suffered this abuse ("personal letters"). In fact, a large percentage of all pediatric urinary dysfunction is caused by unhealthy voiding patterns taught in schools. I invite you to research this for yourself on my page of medical risks to retaining urine, including urinary tract infection, over stretching of the bladder muscle, and other voiding dysfunction ("medical risks" and "http://www.nospank.net/cooper3.htm").

5. Your next comment troubles me, and shows a lack of empathy to the physiological needs and the distress of children: "Going to the bathroom whenever you want all school day? Ridiculous. It would be abused." What is ridiculous and inhumane is that school schedules are set up contrary to the physiological needs of children, with hundreds or thousands of individual human beings expected to conform their largely involuntary internal systems (and internal homeostasis) to a mechanical routine, rather than the school set up being structured around and dictated by the physiological needs of children. Many teachers who are successful at functioning with an open bathroom-use policy state that children do not "abuse" the right when their rights are respected. If individuals do "abuse" the right, it could mean that the child needs a break, the classroom material isn't stimulating or there is some other issue that should be addressed individually. If children appear to be "abusing" the right, they can be asked to use the toilet in the nurse's office (with a pass signed by the nurse) for one week. The solutions are simple if one desires to put the needs of children before the teacher's need for dominance and control. Unfortunately what is truly being "abused" in schools is the human rights of children in the name of control and routine.

6. Lastly, you stated that teachers are legally responsible for children in their classroom, even if they leave the room. You stated a fear of legal action if a child was assaulted or hurt in the bathroom. If this is a real problem that prevents children from using the toilet when the need arises, then schools need to be redesigned to either have a toilet in each class, or to employ hall monitors to keep the halls and bathrooms safe. I agree that teachers, as ex facto parents during the school day, have a legal responsibility to keep the children in their care safe. By denying children the right to respond to their body's individual needs to urinate and defecate, teachers are putting their students at harm. Teachers who deny a child the right to use the toilet are not providing a safe environment- they are controlling a child's body and inflicting pain upon that child (which is illegal in most states). Teachers open themselves to legal action when neglecting a child in this manner.

I am assuming that you are a classroom teacher by the references made in your letter. It is my hope that, rather than try to force your children's bodies to conform to your routines, whims, biases, frustrations and arguments, that you instead advocate for the rights and very real health needs of your students and find creative ways to let children assume control over their own needs. Deal with individual problems that arise, without punishing every child preemptively for what a few limit-testers may do. The other issue I wanted to raise relates to the work of Abraham Maslow, who's research states that when the basic human needs of the body are denied, higher level functions, such as learning, cannot take place. How can a child concentrate and learn when he or she is forced (or intimidated) to sit with uncomfortable bladder and bowels? The only learning taking place at such a time is learning how to ignore internal signals to the detriment of the body. I work in five different schools, and have visited over 50 others, in addition to dialoging with 1000's of children and hundreds of teachers and parents. I have researched this issue extensively in hopes of bringing more sensitivity to the issue by teachers and school administrators. I hope this response answered all of your questions.

-Laurie A. Couture, M.Ed, LMHC
February 10, 2004

However, the most common (and inhumane) teacher argument for toilet use restrictions:

"Use of the toilet is a privilege"
The elimination of bodily waste is not a privilege, it is a basic physiological necessity like breathing, eating, drinking and sleeping that will result in pain and negative health effects to the human body if denied. Therefore, it is a basic human right to eliminate bodily waste when needed. Amnesty International considers it a form of torture and a human rights violation when prisoners are rationed or denied toilet use. Likewise, OSHA laws guarantee that employees must be guaranteed access to the toilet when the need arises. One must wonder why in the case of children (who’s bodies are still developing and can easily be compromised by unhealthy habits), school teachers and administrators insist that a basic health need of the human body is a privilege. Privileges include possessing a drivers license, playing video games, accessing club membership benefits or playing on a sports team. None of those are rights. The elimination of bodily waste is a right-- it is no more a privilege than breathing!

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