Count Me Out Too

Article: Texas Parent Says: Count Me Out of State Testing

“…when adults responsible for children’s well-being tell them they can’t go to the bathroom because the toilet flushing makes too much noise…”

I was a second year teacher working in my first year at a new school when I made a decision that has haunted me ever since. I was serving as a proctor when two-and-a-half hours into an FCAT testing session a girl asked me if she could go to the bathroom. I wanted to say “yes” but I was trying to be a good employee and follow the rules set by administration that nobody was allowed to leave the room for any reason short of nuclear war or natural disaster until the session was done. I told her “no”.

Ten minutes later I noticed her face was bright red and she had teared up a bit. Then I noticed that her uniform skirt was wet and I saw the urine dripping and pooling up on the floor beneath her desk. I knew that being anything less than extreme tactfulness at that point would attract the attention of all the other kids in the room. When I made eye contact with her I could instantly tell that was her biggest fear as well. I made a motion to her to let her know that I understood and to just stay put until I could figure out a distraction. Luckily she was in the back and there were only ten minutes left in the session. As it ended, I was in the front trying my best to keep the attention on me while shuffling everybody else out of the room as quickly as possible. It worked and nobody else caught on to the puddle on the floor that would surely would have made the situation infinitely worse.

I robbed somebody of their humanity, dignity, and decency on that day. It remains a low point for me but it also has been a huge catalyst in the development of my own philosophy towards what we do and how we treat our students in schools. Teachers make many decisions that impact others everyday, and since none of us have yet achieved perfection, its stands to reason that not all of those decisions are going to be good ones. When we allow ourselves to be led astray from what is really important though, the chances of making thoughtless decisions increases.

We need more parents and teachers who are willing to demand something better in a positive way.