Can a headteacher stop a child from using the toilets at school for a week?

Question

on monday my sons headteacher called to inform me that he had urinated on the floor in the toilets. as punishment for this he informed me that my son was banned from using the toilets for a week and asked me to come to school and take him home when he needed it. can he do this?

Answer 1

That sounds ridiculous to me.  My 10 yr old daughter says if this happened at her school there is no way the headmaster would ask a parent to do that.  Detention, a ban from a school excursion, disco etc.  or a short suspension would be what her school would do and a longer suspension for future misconduct.  Express your feelings to the head teacher and suggest another punishment.  This is not a reasonable punishment and I would speak to other parents as well and get their support.

Answer 2

No, that is just wrong.

Answer 3

He can't...

Answer 4

Well depending on how old your child is he should rknow better and if he did it on purpose then yes maybe

But if it was an accident

Erm NO! and you have a duty to tell him he can't!

Answer 5

no, he absolutely cannot. you arent allowed to disallow a child bathroom privileges

Answer 6

No and I would be taking it further because that is just cruel! Your poor son!

Answer 7

No, this is not allowed! If this is the kind of stuff that happens over accidents, i can only imagine what happens when a child talks to loud or doesn't do his work!! Please, report this and find another school

Answer 8

If it's a public school, no way can he do it.  If it's a private school, I guess he can do anything he wants, but I would find a new private school for my child to go to.  (And I'd also find out why he urinated on the floor.)

Answer 9

No.  

Get some advice from your local Citezens Advice Bureau and your local council.

That's disgraceful.

Answer 10

More to the point, why does the headmaster feel the need to do this?

If my child attended a school where another child deliberately made the toilets unsanitary in such a disgusting way, I would be highly delighted if the headmaster made such a decision.

Or was it an accident? If so, then you and your son need to talk to him about what happened and why, and work out ways of it not happening again.

Answer 11

no

that's against the charter of human rights! at least I think anyway

Answer 12

No.

Answer 13

No!  Thats like child abuse to make a kid hold it until someone arrives. Is this a private/religious school?  Contact the school board.  I think there are rules about the availability of bathrooms for the kids.

Answer 14

NO. Go over him to whoever else is in charge. This is ridiculous!

If he did it on purpose, yes a punishment surely is in order, but I would think detention or clean-up duty somewhere in the school/school yard would suffice. I don't see how he can get away with telling your child and you he has to go home to use the bathroom. I still said I would go over him to somone higher up in charge. If that still doesn't work, I would inform them I'd be contacting a lawyer to find out what further actions could be used to fight such a ridiculous punishment. Especially if this is a private school that you are paying for.

Answer 15

Sure.....

He's not being punished.  YOU are!

Basically the headmaster is telling you that if you cannot properly potty train your child you can take him home and have him urinate on YOUR floor.

He's not telling you your child cannot use the restroom, only that when he needs to, it will be your responsibility not theirs, to clean up the mess.