Background: In Izzy's school they have a system for when you are misbehaving. Everyone has their name on a board with a pocket. Every child has a green square in the pocket when they start out their day. If they have disobeyed the teacher after one warning, they must get up and move their marker. They replace their green square with a yellow one. If they get in trouble again, they replace their yellow square with a red one. The child's parents get called and they have to stay in at recess.
I actually like this system because there is little disruption in the class. The teacher quietly tells the person to go move their marker and they know they are in trouble or going to be in bigger trouble if their behavior doesn't change. It's all very calm and and seems to make a big impact! Izzy of course tells me daily that he has never had to move his marker AND tells me every child that had to move their marker and the infraction that caused them to move it. He cracks me up!
Little did I know that you have to move your marker if you go to the bathroom during a non-bathroom break. Yes...that's right people. If you are five and you have to pee, you will have to hold it until break time, move your marker or pee your pants!
I didn't know this until a friend of mine told me her son had an accident in his pants because he was to scared to tell the teacher he had to go to the bathroom.
I would think this might be just some odd thing that only Izzy's military-type school had decided, but I was recently in another school observing another Kindergarten class when the 5 year old raised his hand and asked to go to the bathroom, he was denied as well.
Help me understand this. Isn't this a basic right that all people should have access to? Couldn't companies be sued if they denied these type of rights to adults in the workplace? Why is it okay to deny it to children? (Especially since it wasn't long ago these children were in diapers and pull-ups). These aren't 15 year-olds that are trying to ditch an extra 10 minutes in class. These are little kids that don't have a lot of bladder control.I understand the distraction part of it. It's a distraction for the class and for the students. And really, if you had several children say they had to use the bathroom....couldn't you just break out of the routine and all line them up to go potty earlier then at the "scheduled time?"
I am no educator. Nor do I pretend to be nor do I ever want to be a teacher. I don't have the patience or the endless positive attitude to do well at the hardest profession on earth. But do teachers really have to be that rigid about bodily functions? Especially at such a young age?
Your input is appreciated...............
