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A Missouri mother says her 6-year-old daughter was humiliated after she was denied a bathroom break in her kindergarten class and was forced to sit in her diarrhea during a test session at school.
"They didn't even bother trying to clean her up or anything. She still had poop, diarrhea poop, coming out the back, up her front, down her legs," said the mother, Lisa Skidmore of Washburn, Mo., told KY3-TV on Tuesday.
KY3-TV, an NBC News affiliate in Springfield, Mo., was first to report the story.
The incident happened at Southwest Elementary School in Washburn, Mo., where children were participating in the Missouri Assessment Program tests; the state standardized testing required by law.
While tests are not administered until the third grade, the child's kindergarten teacher was sticking to MAP testing guidelines in efforts to simulate the stringent rules to prepare students for what's to come, School District Superintendent Bob Walker told KY3-TV on Tuesday.
"Bottom line, we regret what happened," Walker told KY3-TV.
Walker, who was contacted by msnbc.com on Thursday, said he met with the child’s parents on Wednesday.
“From our view point, this is a confidential matter and in regards to the media, we want it to remain that way,” Walker told msnbc.com.
In earlier interviews, Walker said he instructed teachers to be more sensitive to situations that might arise during tests.
"I don't want this to happen to any other kid. That's the point of this: I don't want this ever happening,” Walker said, according to KY3-TV.
The child’s mother said she has asked school officials for an explanation and a policy change.
"They told me that the teacher had asked her to go to the restroom before testing time," Skidmore said, according to KY3-TV.
Skidmore says her daughter was forced to sit in the class for the remainder of test time, about 15 minutes, then she was called after the test, and it was a 20-minute drive to the school, according to KY3-TV.
No one helped to clean up her child, she said. A teacher, however, did give the child a trash bag to wrap around herself, Skidmore said.
"You don't even treat a dog that way!" Skidmore told KY3-TV.
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Accidents happen...
Not sure how much of this story is actually true. But i'll give the kid my benefit of the doubt. Eww Gross. Poor kid.
I'm not sure why a teacher would ever deny a student the right to use the restroom. I guess some kids do abuse the policy, but even still. I'd rather them abuse the policy than haveing that kid have an accident and the smell remains in the classroom. But thats just me.
I'll be going to college here in August. I ofcourse will make sure I do my bathroom breaks before and after classtime. But if an emergency should arise, I will be going to the restroom despite my professors wishes.
The teacher is not the one to be dismissed....I had to give those test for 5 or 6 years.(Can't remember how many) That is the rules that the MAP personal tells the test givers, and they have it in the book that we were given.
I for one, never let a child sit there if they really had to go to the bathroom. You as an adult can tell when a child has to go. When a child has to go to the bathroom, do you really think they are doing the best on a test. I know if as an adult if you have to go, what are we thinking about...
Have the MAP people change the rules......
dot1--the school and teacher broke the MAP rules. the test is to be administered to no one under the third grade level. this was a kindergartner/first graderadmiistere the test sort of like a "rehearsal" for when they are a few years older. Stupid logic and does not take into account the development of splinter muscles or that the child was ill the day of the testing. If anything, school should be punished for not following MAP rules and forcing children into situations not developmentally or pedagically appropriate.. Hope the b1t#% with an overdeveloped sense of power and anger toward six-year-olds gets fired and the principal and or school district gets slammed with a lawsuit for NOT following the MAP RULES!
Well it's about time! My 2 daughters claim that i might be alittleviolent. Only when it is to protect my family or myself have i ever used what is leagaly detrmined necasary force. However when u are a woman and u must face a violent man what is so sad is that u might have to use excessive force or as my mother taught me at age 12 when she married a large over 6' man who became violent and aws a 12 yr old little girl i was terified anyway she said hereshowu hit him but made sure to inform me if i do i better make sure he does'nt get up! cuz my life counted on it. She was my mother who at 12 and beyond we trust more than anyone. So i grew up with this way of thinking when it came to my childrenand family. Now i am 60 not stronge have a 37 yr old daughter. that also out weighs me by i whole person when my husband died within 8 day and mind u i couldnot stand without falling down Dr. though i might have ms. and was in such pain she came to my home she had key's that she should not have i asked her for them she refused. Then got very close and had a friend with her Ibackedup put my cain up to keep her at bay now i am violent. !!!!! anyway even at 60 i can not help but to feel like punching that woman in the nose. I said feel like not do!! because the little girl i know was to afraid to go against the teacher and just run to the little girls room. Poor baby. What happened to cival rights? Oh yeah she's only 6 does not have any but if her mother or father who know her best told her to just wait they might end up in court ,jail and have thier child taken away. I do not respond very often as it hurts my hands to type. but i had to vent and sorry i took u all on a long winded story.This was so cruel and as my late hubby once told me when i asked him why do we need to stoop to the low leval of some? his answer was becausethats allsome people understand. I was 28 @ that time gaveit some thought and thought okay i see that now he was almost 14 yrs older and had degree in Phyc. he was a Big quiet man who thought before he acted and he would have ( i'm sure thought that the mother of the little girl should punch her in the nose. I have learned sad to say but it most of time time with bully's etc. that it is the only thing that will work! Bet she would think twice next time she abuses a smallchild!!!!
I had this happen to me... Im now 20 years old and I can still remeber all of it.. I was in the first grade during state assesment tests. I wasnt allowed to stop and go to the bathroom even though they were in each class. I then had to stand in line while everyone else got to go after finishing the test and was unable to hold it. I remeber the ridicule that I got for years about it... The teachers didnt care nor did the staff at the school. It was horrible. Now 15ish years later I still remeber the humiliation. I feel so sad for the girl this happend to. I know what she is and will go through and it isnt right. I thought things would have changed sicne I was in school.
Unacceptable behavior from any adult towards a child. That parent seemed very nice and calm. Lucky for that teacher it wasn't my child.
One more thing to show how sick society is becomming. That poor kid.
Some teachers are simply idiots. Not all, but some.
This is not simply a matter of one issue, it is several that have combined for a disastrous scenario. On one hand, the teacher should have allowed a five year old (many of who still wet their beds) to go to the restroom.
Another question that has arose, is why did the girl have diarrhea? Was she ill? And if so, was she contagious? If the mother knew she had diarrhea, why did she send her to school and not to a doctor? At bare minimum child's Loperamide HCl (Imodium AD) should have been given by the mother before school. In some cases though, several doses are required before it is effective. As a single father of two little boys, one being special needs, (ages 4 and 6), I tend to be a bit more observant of my child's health needs as a preventative measure. My child's school would also have called me to pick him up, if they found out he had diarrhea even the slightest, and it is an expensive private school.
Another problem, is within the system itself, and not anyone in particular. With today's day and age, we have many serious health concerns and people must be proactive in order to avoid contagions. As an officer, as a soldier, and even in foreign prisons, I learned to be cautious, yet sympathetic as well. Even if a person was known to have HIV or worse, I would not hesitate to render aid to that person, even if it meant my certain contamination and thus the end of my career. I am of no value, in any of those roles, if I do not face the simple risk of infectious exposure. As such, I take precautions where necessary, but rather trust in a higher power that my good deeds will keep me safe. Too many of those serving in positions have been scared to death by the often over-hyped CDC rules of engagement, when dealing with possible biohazards. Yes, we should be safe, but NOT at the cost of losing our humanity toward others.
Teachers, and school employees need to be better trained in how to deal with the after-effects of such issues, including isolation and containment of biohazards. Sensitivity training regarding the emotional impact such things can have on some (but not all ) children should be part of the training. The overall fear and liability of taking a child into a restroom, and getting them cleaned off and changed into clothing is also a huge concern among school workers. Luckily, my child's school keeps a few changes of clothing on hand in case of such emergencies. But being a private school they also go a bit further than most schools do, and even require parents to sign letters allowing corporal punishment if necessary. It is a sad state of affairs, when we tie the hands of those working with our children, and then get upset with them when they follow policies or refuse to do anything they are not trained to do. With extra training should come extra pay as well, because let's face it, they deserve it when they go the extra mile (which this teacher obviously did not).
As a teacher, I often tell my secondary students that they cannot use classtime to go to the restroom. It has become an excuse to leave the room, often for half the period, and wander the school grounds. However, when I was a child, my mother told me that if I ever had to go to the bathroom that badly, and a teacher said I could not that I was to get up, leave the room and my mother would deal with the consequences. I offer my students the same option: If you have to go so badly that you truly think you'll have an accident, ask yourself if your parents would believe you. If the answer is yes, then go. On the other hand, exceptions need to made in the primary schools. These children are not necessarily skilled in time management or foreplanning. We teachers have to use our best judgement, but we are not infallible or omniscient. The teacher was not aware that the girl had to use the restroom quite so urgently, but making her sit in her own waste for 15 minutes is absolutely unacceptable.
I want to see a picture of the teacher, not the school sign.
while this is very disturbing that it happened to the child..I find the mother is reveling in the fact that this has pretty much gone national. She almost sounds giddy on her facebook. Sick
Saying that..shame on the teachers. Not just the little girls teacher. but all of them for not helping out that little girl.
A 6 YEAR OLD IN KINDERGARDEN taking a stupid test ? Fire that teacher . Even a 6 year old has civil rights and one of them should be to have a bathroom break when needed .
Probably a union teacher too..........
I thought a successful day in kindergarten was making it through the day witout an accident, not in completing a test that is not required for another three years. Proof that it is not about teaching anymore, it is only about getting good test scores, doesn't matter if the kids know anything or not as long as they get a good test score.
I am a retired teacher (35 years) and am deeply ashamed to read of the stupidity of the teacher in not letting this child go to the bathroom. However, please don't blame the teacher's unions. Blame instead the administrators who demand that teachers slavishly follow the "school's rules" in cases like this. Rules are needed, but they need to be tempered with sensibility. Also, blame the political system - in many, many cases the worst teachers are relatives/friends of politicians in the area, and, for that reason their incompetence is not only tolerated but ignored. If the teacher in this situation couldn't tell that the student was in obvious distress and that a bathroom break was needed, he/she needs a different job, far away from kids. Teachers have more to do than impart knowledge - they have to impart decency and civility as well!
That I am even READING something this pathetic in 21st century America is mind-boggling. Back in the early 1950s I clearly recall a girl who was forbidden (in front of an assembly of OTHER grammar school-age children) to use the bathroom. Her visible distress - and total humiliation - were recognized, along with the subsequent stream of urine puddling on the highly polished oak floors. Laughter soon filled the hallways...
Today, many decades later, the memory is still burned into my brain. To cause that humiliation to a child (or ANYONE!) is beyond reprehensible; it should be considered a CRIME. My heart breaks for this child and all others who similarly have been humiliated or harassed. God bless them ALL.
It is so nice to here someone from the generation before mine say something nice. So many "adults" say things like "big deal back in my day" blah blah blah! I just want to say "really, did you like it back in your day? did you think it was right?" This kind of stuff should have never happened then, let alone now. Thank you so much for your post!
I am in my 20s, and I for the life of me do not understand adults today at all. Do you remember what it was like to get sick in the middle of school? You can't exactly "wait" on diarrhea. It's like throwing up. Then they made her sit in it? This poor kid! It's bad for the skin to sit in that. diarrhea and/or vomiting need to be dealt with right away. It's not good for young children to get dehydrated. Lets also not forget how humiliating. Something like this can destroy a kids life at that school FOREVER. She'll forever be remembered as the girl who "pooped her pants." They'll probably come up with names like "princess poopy pants" or "smelly insert name here." I wasn't a kid that long ago... but I am hoping I never become as insensitive and cruel as some of these adults I read about. Adults that are suppose to love and care for children! I had so many mean teachers growing up and I was a pretty good kid! Why do people who hate children or have no patients become teachers???!!!
This is both wrong and disgusting. One that the child was not well and had to sit in it and two that this could have infected the other children in class. This is human feces and that has cause people to get sick in the past and to let a child sit in for 40 mins with other children present is a danger to all. The teacher needs to be fired and the school and teacher needs to make a public aplogie to all for the danger they put everyones children in.
sounds like the school system condones child abuse. this may pass as education in china, but here.... tsk tsk tsk
If it were my child, I would file "child endangerment' charges against the teacher, just to start. Then I'd probably post the teacher's picture all over town so everyone knows what she looks like. I'm sure there would be many who would have nice things to say to her.
What a heartless idiot. She has no business being around kids, that young.
This is news?????????????????
No dummy, it's an invitation to fools like you.
Hell, I'm calling that school tomorrow and give 'em my two cents worth. I hope many others do the same thing...
I must admit, if that were my child, there's a damn good chance that I would've gone to jail that day for slapping the sh*t out of that teacher... or at the very least, scaring the @!$%# out of her. That teacher deserves to be humiliated in front of her peers so she understands how it feels.
The school's phone appears on this web site. Give 'em a call...