Bodily Functions for Extra Credit

Now we’re really getting down to specifics on best practices for classroom discipline – and rightly so. Granted, many may scoff at a serious discussion of how and when to reward kids for controlling their bodily functions and learning how to manage their time with visits to the bathroom throughout the school day. But I give credit to The Washington Post for devoting major column inches to this topic (click here to read their piece).

Kids getting up and down, begging and pleading, scamming and slacking, and basically just trying to get one over on the teacher to get out of class to go roaming the halls is a challenge as old as time. And yet, how often do we really talk about how best teachers can address this challenge?

Awarding extra credit for unused bathroom break allotments sounds absurd, but if a quantifiable study comparing various methods of reducing classroom disruptions showed that this tact to be effective without compromising academic standards, why not encourage it? Likewise, if the age-old hall-pass system were proven to be highly correlated with anti-social behaviors like loitering and decreased academic performance, why not consider more creative methods of encouraging kids to manage their bathroom time.

A principal quoted in The Washington Post article attacked the idea of extra credits for unused bathroom credits, “What’s the correlation between holding your urine and succeeding on a history test?” Well, maybe none, but I can tell you there sure is a very high correlation between being able to hold your bodily functions through 90-minute meetings if you work in just about any office setting. I’d like that to be a skill that our future workers learn as early as possible.

What’s more, I’d like our education system to pay more attention to figure out just what the best practices on these very basic elements of conducting classroom life should be. Kudos to The Washington Post for treating it seriously.

Comments

[Mary]

"Well, maybe none, but I can tell you there sure is a very high correlation between being able to hold your bodily functions through 90-minute meetings if you work in just about any office setting."

What about high school girls and middle school girls who menstruate? They may need to go to the bathroom to change pads every hour on heavy flow days.

[thebizofknowledge]

Okay, so using the bathroom is a big thing for younger students and can cause all sorts of disruptions. But the sad truth is that, even with older students and those in college, some of these same issues come up. For instance, if students in my evening class get a break one hour and fifteen minutes into class, wouldn't you think they could wait that short amount of time to use the facilities? Apparently not, from the scores of students disrupting class as they exit and re-enter the room!