Reason 14,982 To Home School - "Boyd Bucks" & Bathroom Breaks

A first grader in Irving Texas wet his pants in school.  It probably isn’t all that unusual of occurence for first graders, they sometimes still have accidents.  But this little boy didn’t have an accident.  He didn’t have “Boyd Bucks” that allowed him to use the bathroom when he needed to go.   These “Boyd Bucks” are earned from the teacher as rewards for good behavior, and two are needed to use the facilities during an “unscheduled” bathroom break.

Scheduled bathroom breaks?  Seriously?  What is this jail?  I mean a first grader sometimes will still have accidents even though they have developed bladder control.  I have worked retail on and off over the years as a way to make extra money, and even in that environment, I could use the lady’s room when I needed to.  I didn’t have to wait until it was scheduled.

This is a first year teacher, who I guess is trying to show children that good behavior has benefits.  Well, yes it does.  But A. you shouldn’t be getting a “prize” for doing what you are supposed to be doing, and B. it shouldn’t include emptying your bladder when it is full.

The poor boy made his way home that day and explained to his mother in tears why he wet pants.  I am sure that was a humiliating experience for him.  First he had to deal with walking around with urine in his clothing for the balance of the day, and he was, I am, sure embarrassed to explain this to his mother.  Most children at that age are very eager to be “big boy”.  Peeing in your pants is not seen as an activity that adults partake in.

The mother comforted her son as best as she could, then went to have a little discussion with teacher.  The teacher then told her she would give her son an exception to the “Boyd Bucks” rules to use the bathroom.   After this incident she was still planning on charging children to pee.  The mother pushed the teacher and said that isn’t good enough and that all children should be allowed to use the bathroom when they have to go.

Granted I am sure that many kids use the bathroom as an excuse to get out of doing some work, but generally speaking first graders are very eager to learn.  They are like sponges at that age, just absorbing everything around them.  So I doubt this a huge problem in the first grade, but I am willing to admit I could be wrong about that.  But another thing this teacher is not taking into account is the embarrassment she caused this little boy.  Do you think that other 6 and 7 year olds are not going to pick on him and call him pissy pants?

I have experience with this topic, sadly.  When I was young I had to have three surgeries on my urinary track, I had many problems and not being able to hold it was a real issue for me.  You smell and your clothing doesn’t dry in a minute.  This little boy will be picked about something that was in the teacher’s control to prevent.

The school administration has told the teacher that she can no longer use  the “Boyd Bucks”  system to use the bathroom.  But the system will continue.

My question is what else do you need “Boyd Bucks” to do? The head spins just thinking about it.