Do you ever think about how fucked it is that we had to ask permission in order to pee or use the toilet in high school?
I saw this hilarious tweet about high school trauma, and it got me thinking: how the fuck were we not allowed to empty our bladders when we wanted to?
I mean, think about it – this isn’t something I’ve ever experienced outside of school. It’s not a thing at university. In all my retail jobs, and now while working in an office, I’ve never been denied bathroom breaks. I mean, what else am I supposed to do, just piss myself??
How was I deemed mature enough in my senior years of high school to choose a career and make academic decisions that could impact the entire course of my future, but apparently not trustworthy enough to go to the toilet without permission.
It’s especially wild when I remember that I turned 18 in year 12 – I was literally an adult that couldn’t piss at my own will, despite the fact I could legally drink, have sex with any other adult, or drive a car.
And also, why do some teachers deny bathroom breaks?? Do we just piss on the carpet, then?? A teacher friend of mine told me she thinks some teachers deny students bathroom breaks because of the power trips it gives them, which is just messed up on so many levels.
I had a teacher senior year of hs who had a chart dedicated to recording the bathroom habits of her students. I can’t remember was it was…. but if you took more than one bathroom break in her class in a single semester, she’d Mark you tardy or smthing
— Kwee (@Artfied) May 31, 2021
Others would argue that saying ‘no’ to a bathroom break teaches kids time-management skills, but I don’t think it’s ethical to punish a kid for not being able to plan their pee-intervals correctly. And yes, being busting to pee and not being able to go is absolutely punishment, and it’s fkn traumatic for us small bladder binches.
There were a couple of times in high school where I needed to go to the bathroom and the teacher said no, and I always went anyway and just copped the drama. It was either get in trouble or have my bladder burst, and the fact that those were the only two options is actually absurd and kind of cruel.
Surely, children to deserve to have bodily autonomy. And surely bodily autonomy encompasses when to use the bathroom.
And before anyone tells me that it’s because students might lie – and, so what? Are we really going to punish every student because *some* of them might abuse bathroom privileges?
Maybe the focus should be making school a less miserable place for the students who keep trying to escape, rather than punishing them for wanting to. The only times I ever lied about needing to pee, I was on the verge of a break down and needed a cubicle to cry in peace. It was less about wanting to be some kind of vandal, and more about needing a second to collect myself.
And then we wonder why kids struggle to choose careers, adjust to adult life or just develop authority issues. Maybe it’s because we police their fucking bladder movements and then shame them for not being ~responsible~.
I’m convinced the only reason we can’t pee without permission in school is because the school was designed to prepare children to become industrial workers, which relies on them being “punctual” and “docile.”
The education system, existing in the specific, narrow, rigid way that it does, is just a means of conditioning The Youth™ to get used to long hours at a desk and following silly rules like when to pee, so that they become the perfect worker drones.
It’s all capitalism baybee, and nothing will change my mind.
