Can a teacher of senior infants tell them that they can not go to the toilet during lessons?

Question

my son is 6 and was told by his teacher that he could not go to the toilet during lessons and had to wait until the breaks at lunch that they get. one of the childern is already after wetting herself in the class. has the teacher got the right to do this?

Answer 1

No one has the right to cause a child (especially one that is 6) the kind of embarrassment that results from wetting themselves in class.  If the teacher feels like the child is going too often, she needs to discuss it with the parents and come up with a solution.  I have three children, my oldest is 5.  If her teacher tried this, I would tell her that she needs to try togo every break, even if she doesn't think she has to. But that if she has to go in the middle of a lesson, she needs to ask politely.  If the teacher says no, ask politely again adding that she really has to go.  If the teacher still says no, tell the teacher that her daddy said "she has the right to go" and go.  At which point, the teacher and I would have a serious discussion.

Answer 2

in ireland, when children start school they are in "junior infants".The next year they progress to "senior infants". Its the name of the class! So a child in his second year in primary school would be a "senior infant". Hope that helps clear up some of the confusion about the term! :)

Answer 3

For one, a six year old is not a "senior infant" (I'm not even sure what that really is, but he's no where near an infant).

And yes, teachers all over the planet have been telling their students this for years.  This is much of the reason why students are granted recess.  If they're in the middle of lessons, he needs to be focused on the lessons.  He should use the restroom at every break he is given, to help avoid this type of problem in the future.

By age 6, these kids have been potty-trained for several years.  There should be no reason why they can't hold it, if they're using the toilet on their breaks.

Edit:

Okay, so is "infant school" a term used in the UK or something?  Here in the U.S., an infant is someone who is so young they haven't yet learned to walk, which is when they become a toddler.  In the U.S., we refer to 6-year olds as Elementary School Students...I apologize if I missed that, but there's nothing in the question that would have clued me in.  Thanks, Nutty, for clearing this up for me.

I still believe that a 6-year old should be capable of using the restroom on breaks, and should be focused on classwork during class hours.  I know that I was not allowed to use the restroom during class hours, and this was taught to me in Kindergarten.

Answer 4

You don't say what point during the lesson it was - maybe there was only a few minutes to go.  If that is the case then the teacher is justified in asking him to wait a little longer to avoid disrupting things.  

My daughter is 6 and I would expect her teacher to allow her to go, but also be telling her that she should have gone during break or lunch.

Answer 5

I don't believe so. I would go to the head person like the director and talk with them on this issue. If that does not help i would have your peditriction write out a doctors excuse that madates them letting him go to the restroom. good luck

Answer 6

My son is 6 and I have never heard the term senior infants.In the ofsted regulations it states all children must be provided with drinks eg a water fountain and must have access to a toilet this teacher has no right to tell a child they can not use the toilet.If you can not resolve the issue with the teacher then speak to the head if you are still not satisfied contact ofsted they can do a spot check.

Answer 7

in our classes of 3, 4 and 5 year olds, we never deny restroom use.  If a child really has to go, then he really has to go. Is your child abusing the privilege of going? Has he been caught playing in the bathroom?  If not, then she has no right to deprive him a basic necessity.

Answer 8

I think this is not right at the beginning of the year when the children may be new to this regime  but as the children grow older and learn about going to the loo in breaks I don't see as much of a problem in it.  

Most 6 year olds will have been potty trained for at least a couple of years by then and should be able to last for more then an hour.

it is not right that a teacher should not allow a child to go to the loo when they really are desperate but as someone who has worked in a classroom it is very hard to guess when a child really does need the loo or when they are pretending so they can miss doing some work or go with their friends.

Answer 9

I dont think its illegal or that the teacher is doing anything wrong as by 6 years olds your child should be able to 'hold' for a little while. Also they should be going to toilet at breaks, lunch, before school etc so shouldnt be too bursting.

However, I do think that Primary School children should be able to go to toilets during class as long as it is monitored so that it is not a frequent occurence and only one child should go at a time-otherwise you'd lose half the class!

Its a difficult issue of morals over policies!

Answer 10

What do you mean by "senior infant" .  I am a preschool teaching assistant and have never heard this term before.

Answer 11

no matter what, a child must never be denied to use the bathroom. i would like to see the teacher to be denied to use the bathroom when she needs to go.

Answer 12

By law no they can not. I am sure that most teachers will ask their students if they can wait until a break, but by law they cannot forbid a student to use the bathroom.

Answer 13

the teacher has the right  but not necessarily a good idea  these kids have been going potty on their own for such a short time that that is why most elementary schools have a bathroom in the back of the kindergarten/first grade classrooms   reminding these children to take a potty break during lunch, recess and other breaks in the lessons should make it easier to teach the lessons   as a matter of routine the kids should learn these habit but to be denied the bathroom is detrimental   the parents should have a meeting with this teacher and the school principal so that all sides can be heard

Answer 14

hey um yeah i guess they can becuase if you go and i have dont that plenty of times when i was in preschool but yeah if you leave you may not know the directions for your homework and teachers really hate to repet them selves

Answer 15

I'm sorry your son has this problem, but let me give you a teacher's point of view. I have told children they can't go potty during certain times because if I let one go then they all want to go and I can't teach them anything. For example, when I am giving directions I don't let children go because they will miss out on the directions and it is hard to go back over the directions because I have 20, four-year-olds that all need help doing their work. I do make sure to provide lots of potty breaks and tell the kids that they need to go. I have had students have accidents because I told them they couldn't go and it makes me feel horrible. When that happens I explain to the parents what happened and enlist their help in getting the children to go during breaks. I also try to learn which students want to go to the potty to play and which ones will tell me when they really need to go. Furthermore, I teach the children to tell me if it is an emergency and usually can tell that they are being sincere by their face. I have yet to have a child say it is an emergency when it isn't. It's a hard issue to deal with as a teacher. I don't want to make the kids hold it and have accidents but I can also quickly lose control of a class by granting too much potty freedom. Just some things to think about before you judge this teacher too harshly.

Answer 16

*CAN* they?  Yes.

SHOULD they?  No.

Bathrooms should be provided for a child whenever they need them.  The only acception to this is if someone is in the bathroom already and they just have to wait.

It's not a matter of whether or not they can hold it in.  Most can 99% of the time.  The issue is more of respect.  A teacher saying "you can't go to the bathroom" is not attending to the child's needs.  I find that very disrespectful and insulting and that teacher needs to seriously consider a new career choice or consider changing her techniques.

Matt

Answer 17

Regardless of whether the teacher "has the right" to do this by law, it's ludicrous that she wouldn't let the child go to the bathroom when they need to.  When people get older they are more able to control their bladders, but when they're that age, they must be allowed to use the bathroom when they feel the urge.  You should think about changing schools...

Answer 18

I would say that a teacher should absolutely never keep a child from using the bathroom when needed. Many schools actually physically have the toilet in the room...yours obviously doesn't.  So, in this instance lets apply some standard principles and practices.

1) children should never go alone to a bathroom that is not inside the classroom.  This means the aide should be accompanying. (lack of staff could be the problem?)

2) Practice and routine are important. Is the time for the child to go to the bathroom known by him/her.? Ask him. If he does know then reinforce this time by talking to him.  If he doesn't know then you need to talk with the school about how they are giving this information.  With routine he will get this down but not if he really doesn't know the routine.

3)How many times do you go somewhere and need to use the bathroom during a performance, during a meeting, when you are shopping etc.  and say "I should have gone to the bathroom before I came here?"  Doesn't your child deserve the same accommodations? YES YES YES!  

4) I have seen this a lot and see two sides The teacher might be dealing with persistent bathroom visits (as play/attention)from children that do not really have to use the bathroom so, some sort of rules have to be put in place to change behavior. Try to see this from her eyes when you are not there.  Perhaps she has a legitimate reason....TALK TO THE TEACHER.  Also your child might really need to go to the bathroom and should be allowed to when needed.

I see this as a teacher/parent problem first...... with both of you on the same page some resolution could be made. I can assure that at 6 , using the bathroom in your pants instead of the toilet could be traumatic......so, he is motivated to get this right more than the two of you.  I think that this is most likely a communication problem but would encourage you to keep you receptors open if the teacher indicates to you that something about his bathroom frequency seems "abnormal"

At six years old this would be considered to be early childhood....or more specifically pre-k or kindergarten.  Go to the NAEYC home page and read many articles about toilet training from toddlers and up.  Good luck and e mail me with any further concerns.  I would like to add , that from your tone, you seem to be upset with the teacher. I am not saying to hide that from yourself/her. I am encouraging you to have dialog with the teacher. The aspects of using the bathroom having anything to do with punishment or fear are very very harmful for this child. Empower yourself to be calm and own this with some discussion. YOU'VE GOT THIS!!!!!!

Answer 19

abfabmom, this child is 6, he is still in infant school, which makes him an infant.

i remember being allowed to use the toilet during lesson time, but it was made clear that we should use break and dinner times rather than wait until lesson time!

maybe you should have a word with his teacher and explain that your child was upset by the refusal of letting him use the toilet, and ask if he could be reminded at breaktime to go then?

i really think the school should handle this differently, good luck, i hope you get it sorted xx

Answer 20

The teacher has got a point, they are getting old enough to go through a lesson with out going to the loo.May be it could be handled differently though and all the children are reminded to go to the loo before lessons start and reminded to go during brake.

Answer 21

They can, and they do.  This is one of the problems with the school system.  Kids don't even have the right to take care of their bodily functions.

Answer 22

I work in a infant School we encourage the children to go to the Toilet at breaks and lunch times especially the older ones 8+9year old. with the younger ones i send if they are busting or have toilet problems. Have you been into School to talk to your sons Teacher?

Answer 23

i dont think they can but i am not too sure they should go during lunch and playtime although if they are busting then they should be aloud

Answer 24

If your child is 6 I wouldn't think his teacher would have a problem with it