Why Teachers Shouldn’t Use Student Restrooms

January 23, 2009, 1:20 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

The nearest restroom to my classroom isn’t the faculty restroom. It’s a student restroom that has doors that are..let’s say… less than perfect (they don’t latch very well, let alone lock). I was in a hurry, and I figured that since it was during a time when students were in class, I would be safe to make a quick pit-stop. So, I took my chances. I had just sat down when I heard some girls come bustling in. Of course…one of them, not realizing anyone-let alone a TEACHER, was in there, flung open the stall I inhabited. There I was, in the stall, seated in front of three of my sixth grade students. Thankfully, I was completely covered, but seriously! So, if you were the student, what would your reaction to this be? Here’s a multiple choice:

A. Yell at the teacher for using the student bathroom.

B. Start crying.

C. Stand in a circle in the restroom, laughing, saying “I can’t believe I threw the door open on Mrs. McGill!”

D. Run like the wind out of the restroom, hoping the teacher (me) won’t realize who it was that threw the door open.

Guess which choice my students chose? I would have most definitely chosen “D”. Not my students. No! They went with “C”!! So, I waited, thinking they would eventually realize that the proper thing to do would be to run out of the restroom, but they just kept staying in there, forgetting that I was still there.

I finally gave up and came out of the stall. I said to the red-faced girls: “Well girls, I guess you’ll be talking about this for quite awhile! Don’t worry about it: by the time you’re married and have kids, you’ll have forgotten all about this!” It was one of the girl’s responses that explained their choice of letter “C” for me altogether. She replied: “Oh, Mrs. McGill! My mother says I shouldn’t reproduce!!” Enough said.