this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
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I’ve begun to think the whole point of schools is to police children’s bathroom access.
Check this out from a highly respected teacher of the year. You are pretty close
The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher
by John Taylor Gatto, New York State Teacher of the Year, 1991 https://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html
In my region, this is just up to a certain age, where someone responsible for the kids has the "duty to watch" them. Therefore they can't let a swarm of kids leave them to go to the bathroom. It would be too hard to keep track. So they let just one or two go at a time and keep an eye on how long it takes. If the kid is gone too long, they may have to get a neighbouring classes teacher to watch both rooms and go check on the missing kid.
Imagine there's an emergency like an earthquake or fire. Then they must at least be able to tell rescuers where the kids not with the class are.
I can buy the duty of care laws even if I don’t agree with them (I’m all for free range parenting, kids walking themselves to school or playing in the park unsupervised).
The part about fire safety isn’t an issue though. We’ve done fire drills at my office. It’s a standard procedure for specific employees (managers, maintenance staff) to check all bathrooms and other areas where employees may be and to take attendance once everyone has left the building to the designated emergency area at the far end of the parking lot. I would be shocked if schools didn’t have that exact same system.