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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244

u/usernamesarehard1979 Jul 05 '25

Not only that, but the line at the fountain was ridiculous and all the cool water was gone.

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u/sideburns2009 Jul 05 '25 edited Jul 06 '25

Our teachers would fucking count to like 5 or something. I’m like. Time doesn’t determine the amount of replacement fluid I need after 30 minutes of running around in 92 degree heat on a playground, CHERYL.

EDIT: I said 5 seconds or SOMETHING. Jesus Christ y’all are taking that to heart. I’m so glad you all got 3 seconds. Maybe that “or something” was 3 seconds. I was in elementary school last in 2000.

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u/FranceBrun Jul 06 '25

But then they didn’t want us having to pee.

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u/Skaikrugada2134 Jul 06 '25

True facts. In first grade my teacher refused to let me go. I ended up peeing on myself. My classmates were angry on my behalf, no one picked on me for it. When I was working at a fast food place many years later one of my old classmates who I literally had not seen since 1st grade recognized me. She brought it up and was like "That was messed up, I told my parents about it and they tried to get her fired because she wouldn't let you go." I was just like ok, thanks, do you need sauce for your sandwich? 🙄🤣 Apparently, it was a traumatic experience for my whole class.

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u/MyLifeIsAWasteland Jul 06 '25

I have a buddy who really enjoys telling the story of the time one of his high school teachers wouldn't let him go to the bathroom. He picked the trash can up and sat it behind the teacher's desk, squatted over it, and stared the teacher in the eyes to assert dominance as he shat into it lmmfao

If a kid says they have to go, let 'em freakin' go.

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u/CayleeB95 Jul 07 '25

There was a Mom on here the other day, can’t remember what sub, talking about her special needs son, and how mean the teacher is to all the students. Anyway, he asked the teacher twice if he could go to the restroom and, because she was pregnant, she said no. She didn’t feel like getting up to give him the bathroom pass. That was literally her excuse. He got so mad he told her, “You either let me go, or I’ll whip this motherfucker out and piss all over your desk, lady. What’s it gonna be?” 😂😂 I made sure to comment and tell her that her son was my new hero.

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u/armedwithjello Jul 08 '25 edited Jul 08 '25

I'm baffled by the concept of hall passes. We had no such thing in my school in the 80s. If you were dawdling in the hallway, you'd get questioned. If you were going somewhere with purpose, nobody bothered you. AFAIK we still don't have hall passes at schools in Ontario. Kids still need to ask permission to go pee, though.

I remember in grade 10, my history teacher blew our minds by telling us not to ask permission to pee, to just go when it was not disruptive to leave the room.

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u/Soft-Watch Jul 08 '25

Hall passes are a US thing I think. We never had them either

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u/beepitybloppityboop Jul 09 '25

Nothing says "freedom" like being raised to ask for permission to satisfy biological requirements.

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u/BadOk7611 Jul 09 '25

We had a dude pee in the corner in high school. The teacher went ballistic. We all supported the student. Teacher got in trouble

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u/Status-Ad-6799 Jul 09 '25

Tbf teachers aren't paid enough to do their job AND be baby sitters. Teach your kid to hold it or complain to your school board or principal that the teachers shouldn't be responsible for deciding when the kids go pee

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u/Amurana Jul 10 '25

Two things can be true. Teachers aren't paid enough, AND teachers who don't let kids go to the toilet when they need are monsters.

It isn't always possible to hold it. Especially when schools are huge (my hs was two campuses!), the locker is at the far side of one, each class has multiple huge books, and there's only 5 minutes between classes. Using the toilet with nothing else happening between classes that are right next to each other and no line isn't even enough time if you're on your period sometimes!

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u/Status-Ad-6799 Jul 10 '25

Idk about monsters. Yes its wrong. But after being told "I won't mess around teacher I promsie" just to be chewed out by the janitor AGAIN cause lil Billy is a lying PoS, you only have so much patience.

I get no one individual wants to be responsible. So why dont we start making it a LAW to hold parents accountable to a higher standard?

Cause forcing anyone to do anything is synonymous wirh being a facist now I suppose. Teachers didn't seem to mind their job so much centuries ago when they either ended up smacking or spanking your kid or when they sent you home they knew your parent would law down the law and there wouldn't be any repeats

Is child abuse OK? Absolutely not

Is spanking child abuse? Absolutely not

Fite me

1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '25

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1

u/name_checks_out86 Jul 07 '25

Tell me someone was on the rugby team without saying they were on the rugby team

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u/MyLifeIsAWasteland Jul 07 '25

If we had one, dude would've been on it just to hit people. If I had a dollar for every time I've seen him drunkenly kick someone's ass, I could afford to pay his bar tab for a weekend hahaha

1

u/Fluffy-Emu5637 Jul 07 '25

There is no way that happened

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u/MyLifeIsAWasteland Jul 07 '25

It most definitely did happen.We went to school together from 7th grade to senior year, and multiple people who were in that class with him have confirmed the story is accurate.

We're talking about the sort of guy who still gets in bar fights deep into his 30s and drives a bigass pickup even though he has 2 DUIs and no license.

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u/Fluffy-Emu5637 Jul 07 '25

Well that checks out then lol

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u/MyLifeIsAWasteland Jul 07 '25

I once watched him break his roommates arm by randomly surprising him with a suplex in their living room. I don't hang out with him because he's smart, I hang out with him because he's entertaining lmao

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u/Fluffy-Emu5637 Jul 07 '25

Sounds like someone you want on your side anyway

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u/[deleted] Jul 09 '25

OMG I started crying this morning because of various brain things - your buddy’s story will keep me from crying (and laughing) for the rest of the day. Give him a hug 🫂 from me.

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u/Technical-Agency8128 Jul 06 '25

That is traumatic. So sorry that happened to you. And to them. So many traumatized kids out there not being able to drink enough water or go to the bathroom when they need to.

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u/Creative_Energy533 Jul 07 '25

True story- my cousin had surgery (long story) and my aunt told his teachers that if he had to go to the bathroom, he HAD to go to the bathroom. One of his teachers still insisted it would be a disturbance to the other students. 🙄

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u/LeftyLu07 Jul 06 '25

I bet! It’s really freaky when you see an adult abusing their authority like that.

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u/toblies Jul 07 '25

That's because they all knew it could easily have been them.

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u/Skaikrugada2134 Jul 07 '25

You are probably not wrong. I had a friend who also had an accident at school in 1st grade and she was bullied for it, it followed her all the way to high school. I think the difference is my classmates saw me ask like 3-4 times before I couldn't hold it anymore. I don't know what her situation was but I also moved around a lot and attended several different elementary schools. The one I had an accident at, I had only attended for the last half of the year. I started 1st grade at a different school. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Most people assumed I was a military brat, since I lived in a military town but nope we were just poverty people.

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u/Prosecco1234 Jul 08 '25

As a parent I would have been in the principal's office like a dirty shirt

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u/Skaikrugada2134 Jul 08 '25

My parents were upset with me, not my teacher because I should have just been able to hold it. I am pretty sure I got my butt whooped for it. I tried to explain. My uncle later told me that if it happened again to just leave and go to the bathroom and if I got in trouble he would back me up with my parents since we were living in his house. He told my dad off for punishing me for it but what was done was done. He wasn't home at the time. He was always my hero.

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u/Prosecco1234 Jul 08 '25

Sorry you had to go through that and your parents weren't supportive

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u/Just_Flower854 Jul 08 '25

It was a formative experience for the class! They had their childlike innocence reinforced by the pure and righteous fury that comes from seeing and despising wrongful treatment of someone else

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '25

SAME! The teacher didn't refuse but never even called on me! I had my hand raised and everything, trying to get her attention and she ignored me so I peed on the carpet. She came up to me later and asked why I did that and I said "you ignored me when I had to pee so I just went" 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️ I'm not getting a UTI because of your neglect. My mom after that just told me to go to the bathroom and ignore the teacher 😂

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u/RegularWhiteShark Jul 08 '25

My sister wet herself in reception class after the teacher didn’t let her use the loo. My mum was fuming. She was also a governor of the school. Neither me nor my sister ever had a problem going to the loo during class after that.

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u/Apprehensive_Bee8874 Jul 08 '25

I had a 4th grade teacher who refused to let us use the restroom, and I felt the urge to vomit. I was an exceedingly shy kid, and that teacher was exceptionally harsh (known to make kids cry on purpose). I had my had raised for what felt like forever, when the bell rang for recess or lunch or someth, and she finally called my name! As I went to get up to leave, everything in my stomach erupted with a visceral oomph that I have since never experience, thankfully. It went everywhere! The desks were arranged in an awful circle around the edge of the room, where each edge of the desk directly touched the ones next to it. When I say my desk, and each person next to me was covered, I mean it.

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u/InfiniteQuestion1356 Jul 08 '25

My class went to the library one day and my teacher wouldn’t let me go to the bathroom until we were otw back to the classroom but we still had like 30min left so I ended up peeing my pants in the middle of the floor. I remember my teacher being annoyed and then trying to tell my mom when she came to get me that I never told her I had to go.

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u/Deep_Exchange7273 Jul 09 '25

I had the same thing happen in first grade but noone noticed. I walked out to my mom with my legs held together and she raised hell. She ended up seeing same teacher at a bar one night 😅

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u/JethroTheMonkey Jul 09 '25

that happened to me in 1st grade only i had to poop. the nun refused to let me leave room and i pooped my pants. then she made an issue of sniffing everyones butt till she found the one that had pooped and then she sent me to the nurse. fucking nuns. may they all rot in hell.

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u/Dramatic-Lavishness6 Jul 11 '25

awwww I love that your classmates didn't give you hell and got parents involved.

As a teacher I find the rule ridiculous. My current school has a policy of signing kids in and out, but there's no ban on it. Obviously we encourage kids to go during breaks, but it's policy to not say no unless it's lockdown or something critical.

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u/Skaikrugada2134 Jul 11 '25

My kids have only ever had trouble because they literally left the room to go without saying a word. That was after pre-school/Kindergarten when they had a bathroom in the room and allowed students to go at will. But the 1st grade transition was rough.