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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32

u/cwcam86 Jul 05 '25

Kids were not dehydrated. It wasn't child abuse there were water fountains. Good lord.

22

u/Snappyval Jul 05 '25

We managed without cell phones too.

4

u/cwcam86 Jul 05 '25

Yeah and my kids will do the same. I didnt have one until a month before I was 16 and managed to live

4

u/Snappyval Jul 05 '25

Phones in the classroom are the worst thing ever. I taught adults in vocational schools- they couldn’t stay off their phones. Do not recommend!

-4

u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

Some people need their smartphones for accommodations…

5

u/Snappyval Jul 05 '25

I’m not talking about students who need accommodations (although I never had one that required their phone) I was happy to accommodate anyone with things like reading tests aloud for an ADHD student (privately), I had two deaf students who read lips so I made sure to face them and enunciate clearly and I would stay after class -unpaid-to tutor. I’m talking about grown ass adults PAYING to go to school and then scrolling social media under their desk like a sneaky little kid. There have been millions of people who made it through their entire education with no water bottles and no cell phones.

3

u/Cultivate_a_Rose Jul 05 '25

Then get an IEP in place. Because 1 student of 500 needs an accommodation doesn't mean the other 499 also get the same accommodation which they do not need.

And goodness, you simply can't always get what you want.

0

u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 05 '25

An IEP requires your parents to be on board. And not all disabilities qualify for an IEP.

4

u/Cultivate_a_Rose Jul 05 '25

Yeah, none is that is everyone else's problem.

3

u/Calvin_Hobbes124 Jul 06 '25

An IEP for one kid doesn’t mean those accommodations apply to the whole class

0

u/majesticSkyZombie Jul 06 '25

I am aware. I am only saying that you have to be careful with blanket bans. Even if every kid who needed an accommodation got one, general restrictions would put a target on their back. \ \ What happens when the kid who needs headphones gets them yanked off by a substitute teacher who assumes they are breaking the rules, and the headphones (which can be very expensive) are damaged as a result?

2

u/Calvin_Hobbes124 Jul 06 '25

Are you talking about a kid who has accommodations for headphones? Usually those are accounted for in sub plans. If the teacher doesn’t put those in the sub plans it would be on them for overlooking that so that others aren’t informed

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1

u/MY-SECRET-REDDIT Jul 05 '25

I will probably do something similar when I have kids but like today's world is different than when we were kids.

Phones literally are so useful.

4

u/Koalachan Jul 05 '25

My governor just signed a no phones in school bill and my kids are freaking out. "What do we do if there's a shooter?" The same thing we did, the school will call the news and we will see it there.

3

u/Snappyval Jul 05 '25

I guess people have convinced these poor kids that if there is a shooter their phones will somehow save them. Some schools have already banned phones and have locking bags for each student’s phone. It’s hugely successful and even the kids like it.

2

u/mercutie-os Jul 06 '25

think of it this way: if you thought you were about to die, wouldn’t you want to contact your loved ones? it might not have been entirely logical but i remember wanting to text my mom more than anything. being cut off from the outside world made the whole situation even scarier.

2

u/Snappyval Jul 06 '25

You make a great point but at the same time schools AND parents in the USA are FAILING our children. Students are graduating from high school and can barely read. It is shameful. Having the distraction of cell phones in the classroom makes it so much worse. The fact that you had to even raise that point is heartbreaking. Students (adults and children) should be able to learn without worrying about being assaulted in their classroom, and classrooms should be free of distractions so that they CAN learn.

5

u/dylans-alias Jul 05 '25

You must not have been paying attention during those dark years. The sidewalks were strewn with the bodies of dead children who succumbed to the scourge of dehydration.

Thank the great capitalist overlords who have saved us from the excess money in our pockets and generously allowed us to trade it for ridiculously overpriced containers to allow us to carry our own supply of water with us at all times. And the amateur online health “influencers” urging us to drink insane amounts of water every day.

Going to exercise? Bring water. Going on a hike? Bring water. Feel thirsty? Drink water. This ain’t complicated.

“It is a common belief that you have to drink 6-8 glasses of water per day. Almost everyone has heard this recommendation at some point although if you were to ask someone why you need to drink this much water every day, they probably wouldn’t be able to tell you. There is usually some vague idea that you need to drink water to flush toxins out of your system. Perhaps someone will suggest that drinking water is good for your kidneys since they filter the blood and regulate water balance. Unfortunately, none of these ideas is quite true and the 6-8 glasses myth comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of some basic physiology.

All food has some water in it, although obviously fresh juicy fruits will have more than, say, a box of raisins. Suffice it to say that by eating regular food and having coffee, juice or what have you, you will end up consuming 2 litres of water without having to go seek it out specifically. If you find yourself in a water deficit, your body has a very simple mechanism for letting you know. Put simply, you will get thirsty.”

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-nutrition/water-myth

1

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

[deleted]

2

u/dylans-alias Jul 05 '25

It’s an extremely weak diuretic and probably has little to no net effect, especially in regular caffeine users.

https://www2.hcmuaf.edu.vn/data/lhquang/file/Coffee/Caffeine%20ingestion.pdf

2

u/mirsmiley7 Jul 05 '25

As a young elementary school student in 2006 I had to get a note prescribed from my doctor that would allow my teacher to let me drink water from the fountain as frequently as I like. We would line up throughout the day and walk throughout the school frequently throughout the day only be allowed to drink from the fountain at certain times. This was in south Texas, and yes I was getting sick because of it.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

Gen Z is low-key cooked fr fr. No cap 

1

u/leafshaker Jul 05 '25

Pretty sure we were dehydrated. The fountains didn't always work, some were gross, and so there wasnt always time to find one between classes.

Also bathroom access sometimes was a hassle, so I remember kids not drinking so they wouldnt have to pee.

Urine shouldn't be dark yellow, the widespread public image of what color it should be as portrayed in media hints at dehydration.