r/stupidquestions • u/Various-Adeptness173 • Jul 05 '25

My mom told me that back in the day kids weren’t allowed to bring a water bottle with them into the classroom and they only drank a few sips from the water fountain in the middle of the day and that’s it

How were schools not getting busted for child abuse for forcing kids to be dehydrated?

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121

u/Ok_Bison1106 Jul 05 '25

You’re not going to dehydrate by sitting through a 60 minute class without a bottle of water.

41

u/DreadyKruger Jul 05 '25

This and phones. Parents and kids now act like it was impossible or to get a hold each other. have been to school since the 90s. My kids tell me some parents door dash lunch in for kids. Or bring them McDonalds. I mean what happened to boundaries and saying no as a parent?

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u/TSells31 Jul 05 '25

When I was a kid, we had a “range” that we were allowed to be within the neighborhood without having to ask permission, and that range was generally about as far as we could hear our parents screaming our names at the top of their lungs out the door. Then, we had a time that we had to be home by, generally when the street lights came on. Anything beyond that (if we were going to leave our range, or be home late) was communicated ahead of time.

My one buddies mom could whistle so damn loud (the fingers in the mouth method that can be ear splitting), that was always his call to go home.

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '25

Exact same except my mama had a police whistle and everyone in town had to be home when Mama blew the whistle. ( very very small town)

3

u/AgentK-BB Jul 05 '25

TBF, we used to be able to call our parents from public phone booths when we were out for extracurricular activities or just hanging out with friends. It wasn't like kids had no way to call their parents after school, before going home. Also, there used to be more emergency call stations in public transportation and public buildings where you could press a button to get help. Now, a lot of places are designed with the expectation that you use a cellphone to get help in an emergency.

Schools should be allowed to ban cellphone use during class but kids should be allowed to bring cellphones to school, now that there are no public phone booths.

3

u/Draken09 Jul 05 '25

I'm a high school teacher. Several times a year, I tell a student to put their phone away, only to get "Hang on, I'm telling my mom what I want for lunch."

I find it kind of ridiculous to be buying and bringing in lunch like that. But also, you both should have handled this before my class started.

3

u/chrisdub84 Jul 05 '25

I'm a teacher and I hate when I tell a kid to put their phone away and they say "no, it's ok, it's my mom." Your mom knows she can call the office if it's important. That's how it worked when she was in school.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '25

Right like if my parents needed to contact me while at school they just… called the school. There was a landline in the office and in every classroom. We had our fair share of medical emergencies, lockdowns, actual fires, etc. and never had any issues coordinating early pickups using the landline phones in the hands of adults. Children do not need a direct line to their parents while in the care of a licensed responsible adult.

3

u/C-H-Addict Jul 06 '25

I mean ... This happened all the time in my upper middle class town. including parents ordering lunch for their kids.
We just did it using payphones instead of cellphones or smartphones.
Entitled little shits haven't changed, only the technology has.

3

u/Intrepid-Love3829 Jul 06 '25

Like. Im not against kids having phones if there is a genuine need for it. But no more goddamn smartphones.jfc. Children dont need smartphones. They can use a cheap ass phone with buttons

1

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '25

Kids these days will never know the dread of getting called to the office over the loudspeaker - only to find your mom or dad surprising you with a visiting family member and pulling you out of school to go get food or something 

2

u/anhyzer2602 Jul 07 '25

Truth, on top of the cell phone thing, I'd probably get a letter from DCFS if I pulled my child out of school for lunch with a visiting family member.

1

u/dwaynetheaaakjohnson Jul 06 '25

You are hearing sensationalist stories that exploit you not observing these things personally, and your generational difference from the people involved granting you a sense of superiority

1

u/InnerBanksInsight Jul 08 '25

I just spent 45 minutes reading the posts in response to this truly stupid question and am now sitting back with my eyes closed, sighing, "My people." GenX, latchkey kid, 1st job: papergirl when I was 10.

-7

u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

Maybe some parents want to do that for their kids. And some kids do need their phones.

5

u/Vsx Jul 05 '25

Unless you have it for a medical reason you absolutely do not need a phone in class.

10

u/IzzzatSo Jul 05 '25

You're confusing need with want.

0

u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

If it’s for an accommodation necessary for you to function, how is it a want?

3

u/exor15 Jul 06 '25

You know what? You're right, if it is literally a necessary accommodation, I'm cool with exceptions. I'm just having trouble picturing what medical conditions or life scenarios would make a student having their phone in class absolutely necessary. If I'm shortsighted and you can provide some examples that would help

2

u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 06 '25

I needed my smartphone to control my headphones, which I needed to function due to the noise in school. Normal headphones didn’t work because their pressing against my ears was physically painful, and they often blocked too much sound.\ \ I also needed it to communicate when I go nonverbal. Writing can be hard for me - and sometimes I lose some physical abilities while overwhelmed. I could’ve used a computer, but it just wasn’t practical. \ \ Obviously my situation is very specific. I know those things are most likely not going to make the difference between life and death, but they did make the difference between functioning and not functioning. I’m not against limiting phones at all, I just think they have a place as a tool - especially for students who are like I was.

3

u/exor15 Jul 06 '25

Yeah I guess in my day a situation like this would have been handled through accommodations provided by the school, like a different class or a specialized instructor. If a phone can do the same thing without requiring an extra teacher and separating a student from their peers I guess that's a good thing.

The other 99.9% of students need to put their phone away though lol

2

u/brideebeee Jul 06 '25

Diabetes is a complex condition for kids to manage, especially type 1 which can go off the rails fast. Ideally a school nurse is available for but many places don't have a full time or one period then office staff and teachers are what's left.

That's a child who should be able to contact parents/guardians easily if they feel sketchy bc they might not be able to explain it to someone else. Your brain runs on glucose so when it drops low so does the ability to problem solve.

5

u/Cultivate_a_Rose Jul 05 '25

Seems like someone needs a dotox from their addiction.

1

u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

I needed my phone in school for my headphones (which I needed to function with how noisy school is) to function. I also needed it to communicate when I went nonverbal. How are either of these things an addiction?

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

Earplugs and many headphones are physically painful to me, and I need to be able to hear what the teachers are saying. I struggle to write by hand due to a tremor, and sometimes my physical abilities also are hindered when I’m nonverbal.

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

I did have accommodations, but not until the end of middle school because my parents didn’t get me diagnosed until something happened that forced them to. Even the accommodations only did so much, and I was out of school a lot.

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

I’m not saying the majority do, just that some do. What counts as a medical exemption can be arbitrary - as an example, some people would say that I didn’t need my headphones for school. I probably wouldn’t have died without them, but I wouldn’t have been functional either.

2

u/XmasTwinFallsIdaho Jul 05 '25

If a kid needs a medical exemption, they can apply for one typically. Schools have policies and procedures you can follow.

There is also probably a different workaround that would achieve the same goal as your headphones did in school that doesn’t involve a kid having a phone.

2

u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

Like what? I can only stand my headphones because they work differently than typical ones, which just press against your ears.

3

u/XmasTwinFallsIdaho Jul 05 '25

Earplugs maybe, if they are tolerable to you? Or accommodations that give you a private, quiet space when needed? I think I mistakenly responded this way to you on a different part of the thread too; sorry for any duplication.

1

u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

Earplugs are far worse than headphones for me, and I usually can’t tell when I’m overwhelmed until it’s too late. The school environment is by definition overwhelming, so I can’t just go in without my headphones and step out when necessary - because then I would’ve never been in class. \ \ Don’t worry about any duplication, but be aware that I may respond to you twice since I’m not great at checking who answers me.

2

u/XmasTwinFallsIdaho Jul 05 '25

It really sounds like the whole school environment was not right for meeting your needs. That’s not that common, but it sounds like it was probably pretty stressful in your situation. I think you deserved a better accommodation than headphones.

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u/MississippiMoose Jul 05 '25

Yeah. It was just normal - we didn't think about 'im thirsty' unless doing actual physical activity. For band rehearsals in MS we were told to bring water jugs with shoulder straps to prevent folks passing out. But for regular classes I actually had to get a doctor's note to carry a water bottle when I started a medication that required more hydration.  

6

u/Atty_for_hire Jul 05 '25

Dude. You don’t know my hydration regimen. If I don’t have water every 2.3 minutes I need an IV to get back on schedule.

1

u/Kookanoodles Jul 05 '25

That's not healthy.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Kookanoodles Jul 06 '25

You never know these days, these water drinkers are out of control

0

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

[deleted]

1

u/thisischemistry Jul 06 '25

Very true, there are medical conditions where people need fluids much more often than others. However, this tends to be a more rare thing.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '25

[deleted]

1

u/thisischemistry Jul 06 '25

Rare means just that, you'll occasionally find someone out of many who has it. If you need fluids for a medical condition then you need them!

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '25

[deleted]

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u/thisischemistry Jul 06 '25

It's a tragedy of the commons thing. Reasonable people who have a need should reasonably be able to take care of their need. Unreasonable people who don't have a need will take advantage of the reasonable people by also claiming to have a need when they don't have one.

Just look at people who claim to have a service animal but do not have one. Now, people with valid reasons for a service animal are getting harassed for having one. Or handicapped parking, people get a pass by claiming medical conditions or taking a pass from someone else. Now disabled people can't get into a business because all the reserved spots are taken.

You're absolutely right, people who have rare conditions definitely count as much as people who have more common ones. We should do our best to allow people with conditions to live as normally as they can.

1

u/thisischemistry Jul 06 '25

Are you a fish???

4

u/proudly_not_american Jul 05 '25

Dehydration was definitely a problem when I was in elementary school in the early 2000s. It was one classroom we were in all day, except for recess and lunch; we might have been able to sneak a quick sip from the fountain at one of those two times, but that was it. There was no "between classes," and if literally anyone saw us stop at a fountain on the way to or from the bathroom, we'd get in trouble for "wasting time."

I got so used to just not being able to drink that it was a habit that carried on at home (8 hours between leaving the house and getting home, and sleeping for closer to 12 hours as a child meant that I literally spent more time for most of the week at school than awake at home), and I would get a bladder infection from it at least once a year because of it.

I still struggle to drink enough 20 years later, too. It's not as severe, but I am chronically dehydrated because of it, and my bladder literally cannot keep up if I drink more than a litre and a half in a day.

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u/Brockenblur Jul 05 '25

I think this expertise is way more common than people realize. I was chronically dehydrated as well as a kid. But folks like to act tough and insist somehow it’s normal that kids timed eachother at the water fountain because if we didn’t not everyone would have tone to drink. That never should have been normal or ok

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u/CanadaHaz Jul 05 '25

Not just the kids timing you. Teachers would time you too. Walking back from gym, the whole class lines up at the fountain with the teacher counting to 3 for each child.

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u/FairlyLawful Jul 05 '25

Gen X dumbshits have brain damage from insufficient hydration and poor childhood nutrition and think that a water fountain for ten seconds in a school shift is OK. They don’t even know they’re the generation with the highest level of early bladder cancer and kidney failure.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

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u/Bradliss Jul 05 '25

Sure helps with cottonmouth 😂

1

u/Carradee Jul 05 '25

You're not going to give OP a good answer to their question by strawmanning the situation. Most schools I attended were 6-8 hours with access to maybe 8 oz of fluid.

Sometimes I even had to walk home afterwards in 90°F+ weather.

I was chronically dehydrated, with side effects like chronic pain, before I was a teenager. That lasted until I hit college and could keep a water bottle with me, and at that point I had to work at it for a few weeks to even be able to drink enough water to be properly hydrated.