Mom Blasts Teacher For Making Classroom Earn Bathroom Privilege
A mother took to TikTok to berate a teacher for her outlandish rewards system that requires students to earn their bathroom privileges.
Teachers have long utilized the use of reward systems in the classroom to encourage good behavior while deterring the unwanted. But what happens when one of those allotted student rewards is also considered a basic human right? This is at the heart of an issue for one middle school mother, who is now blasting her child’s school on social media after she found out the teacher is requiring children to earn their bathroom privileges.
@mommastattoos Replying to @matthew_dexter Part 2: Operant Conditioning—Bathroom privileges?!? #operantconditioning #middleschool #bathroomprivileges #bathroomrights ♬ original sound – Desi Eleazar Hoffman
The mom, Desi Eleazar Hoffman, reported this bizarre finding on her personal TikTok account. Lambasting the educator, she claims that her daughter’s 6th-grade teacher, Mrs. Garrett, uses a classroom rewards system to earn what she calls Garrett dollars. The fake money can be used to purchase various items, including bathroom privileges.
The outraged mom was furious that this teacher appeared to be requiring students to earn their bathroom privileges. She pointed out how especially troubling it was for young females, who often are just learning to navigate the world of menstruation, and may require more trips to the restroom because of it. But most of all, she ridiculed the bathroom privilege system for taking away basic human rights, as no one has the ability to indefinitely control and hold these normal body functions.
@mommastattoos Replying to @texas_momma74 Part 3: Operant Conditioning—Bathroom “Privileges” & Garrett $’s #bathroomprivileges #bathroomrights #middleschool #operantconditioning #garrettdollars ♬ original sound – Desi Eleazar Hoffman
The mom said that she reached out to Mrs. Garrett to demand her child be able to use the restroom whenever she needed, even if she hadn’t earned the teacher’s bathroom privileges. In a follow-up video, the mom detailed something that further outraged parents following the story. The teacher explained that students were allowed access to the restroom without earning the passes, but noted that they lost out on other privileges and points if they did so.
@mommastattoos Replying to @mommastattoos ♬ original sound – Desi Eleazar Hoffman
Now, the mother has taken the issue further with the district, asserting that she doesn’t have a problem with the rewards system, but the tie-in to bathroom privileges specifically. After finding no resolution with the school principal, the superintendent became involved. Afterward, the district required the teacher to remove bathroom privileges from “Garrett dollars” reward system for every student.
There are some that would possibly defend the teacher’s viewpoint by arguing that students abuse bathroom privileges. A few weeks ago, a school janitor took to Redditt to share pictures of the deplorable conditions of a restroom he had to clean. Oftentimes, children do, in fact, take advantage of those privileges and wreak havoc.
In another instance, a school was just accused of barring students’ access to restrooms at certain points of the day. A Reddit user posted a picture of his high school, showing the door to a restroom that was barred off. It was said to be a new policy restricting bathroom privilege as students were caught spreading fecal matter on mirrors and destroying bathroom property.
But just because some choose to abuse those bathroom privileges doesn’t give educators the right to take bathroom privileges away or incentivize them. There are far better ways to address and discipline unruly behavior during school. On TikTok, most users agreed with the mother’s standpoint, but others pointed out how easily this basic human need could be abused by children, depicting just how torn viewpoints on the situation are.
