The age-old question, “Can I go to the bathroom?” is one that has caused concern and controversy for middle and high school teachers alike. The question is met with a plethora of responses. A firm “no” is common. Others require students to wait until after the lesson or ensure that only one student leaves the room at a time. Some teachers try to be more relaxed, allowing students to go whenever they need to and even suggesting that next time “they shouldn’t even ask.” Even others respond with the iconic, “I don’t know, can you?” although grammatically correct teachers are not the focus of this article.
Teachers across Boulder High School have a wide range of bathroom policies, and students hold varying opinions about them. While some students report little to no difficulty leaving class to use the restroom, others find bathroom access to be a frequent point of frustration. On the teacher’s end, bathroom passes can be difficult, as students leaving class means they are missing the lesson and possibly wandering the halls. Thus, bathroom passes are sometimes treated as incentives or privileges rather than necessities.
Some students polled said that their teachers are fairly lenient and do not require students to sign out to use the restroom. Several others expressed annoyance with the stress and anxiety caused by limited bathroom passes or sign-out systems like Minga, which tracks how long students are out of class. Many said it can be stressful to interrupt class to sign out or worry about whether they have enough bathroom passes remaining.
Another way teachers attempt to regulate bathroom trips is through physical bathroom passes. One student shared that in one of her classes, students must use a specific object as a bathroom pass, such as a lei, a gold chain, or a hairband. However, the item has been missing for days, and the teacher has refused to allow restroom use until it is returned. She expressed ongoing frustration, noting that while the pass may never return, students still need access to the bathroom.
When asked, many students said that allowing bathroom breaks does not distract from learning but actually prevents distractions. Students felt they performed better in class when they could take short, stress-free breaks. Others voiced frustration with strict five-minute policies, explaining that bathroom lines can make time limits unrealistic. As long as their absence is reasonable, students said they do not want to be marked absent for taking care of a basic need.
Mr. Guegan, a math teacher at Boulder High, explained that when students ask to leave during class, it is “usually something that can be done during the passing period, right before or after class, or during lunch.” He believes that his policy of two to three bathroom passes per unit is “relatively generous” and effective for his classroom.
In a school that often has two stalls in a bathroom and one bathroom per department (besides the LA department and first-floor bathroom) and 5-minute passing periods, going to the restroom during passing can sometimes be impossible. Lines are often long, not to mention that part of the passing period is used to go from one class to another. So the expectation that all students can go to the bathroom during the passing period is often unrealistic.
In contrast, Dr. Ricker, a science teacher at Boulder High, stated that her “current bathroom policy is that students can go when they need to go.” She believes this approach encourages students to leave at times that “make sense for both their education and my teaching,” making them less likely to miss important instruction.
The question remains: would students be able to function effectively if all teachers enforced the same strict bathroom policies? Some students argue that the system currently works because more flexible teachers help balance out stricter classrooms. Ultimately, students question how much bathroom restrictions truly affect learning and whether they would benefit from being trusted to judge the best time to step out.
