It’s the stuff of nightmares – your whole class watching you go to the bathroom. For one American college student, this became a reality.
During a social work class focusing on family approaches, the student felt the need to relieve herself. While in a physical classroom you can excuse yourself and leave everyone else behind in the actual room, the student’s online Zoom class was apparently so compelling that this did not cross her mind.
She then brought her laptop into the bathroom and – forgetting that her webcam was on – pointed the screen at herself while on the toilet.
The reactions are surprisingly muted. One student leading the discussion was interrupted by the muffled laughs of other students, who were beside themselves after what they just witnessed.
“I saw nothing,” said another student. At one point – and dare we say it, possibly mid-stream – the student turned her laptop away.
Everyone else simply sat in silence. Stunned, mouths wide open and hands on cheeks.
It serves as a harrowing lesson to log off. You don’t need to be online when you’re going to the bathroom. Give yourself space. Breathe.
Returning to class after that would require a lot of guts. Hopefully the other students can contain themselves next week.
There’s no need to be embarrassed. We all do it.
