“Mr. Gambleputty, How Much Do I Have To Bleed Into My Seat Before I Can Have Permission?” — Women Are Sharing How They Dealt With Male Teachers Who Refuse To Let Them Use The Bathroom In School

I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume that, unfortunately, most people who weren't homeschooled grew up with at least one bad teacher. We've got proof here , here , and here . In fact, a lot of everyday teaching tactics are actually very toxic .

And one topic that always seems to circulate is bathroom breaks during classtime. Many teachers have very specific rules regarding leaving class to use the restroom.

So, when an anonymous Quora user asked, "How do I tell my male teacher that I’m on my period and he needs to let me go to the bathroom in a non-awkward way?" I knew the conversation would be a good one to divulge.

Before solutions were offered, women immediately started sharing their horror stories from the past:

"I remember one teacher who refused to let me go to the bathroom, so I deliberately crapped my pants in his class. 'Sir, I need to go to the toilet, like, now.' His response: 'It’s only 20 minutes to the end of the class, you’ll have to wait.' Me: 'Sir, I really can’t wait…' He insisted that I had to. I then did what I had to do. 'It’s okay, sir, I don’t need to go now,' I said as a horrible smell filled the classroom. His response? 'You nasty little shit, get to the bathroom and clean yourself up.' I ended up getting sent home, and my mom wasn’t very pleased."

"My male teacher: 'No, Katherine, you can’t go to the bathroom.' Me: 'Mr. Gambleputty, how much do I have to bleed into my seat before I can have permission?' Him: 'Katherine, bringing that up is inappropriate. Go to the principal’s office!' I left the classroom, went to the bathroom, then headed to the principal's office. After hearing the situation, the principal said, ''I’ll speak to Mr. Gambleputty, but next time, don’t mention that in class.' I then told her, 'Oh, I’m not on my period, ma’am. I just figured if I’d said 'pee' instead of 'bleed,' I wouldn’t have gotten as visceral a reaction. He’s not married, so I took a chance that he might still be freaked out at the idea of periods.'"

"He was a new teacher and very into 'respect.' He wouldn't let us leave for any reason. One day, I needed to change my tampon badly. Of course, he wouldn't let me go. So I bled straight through my pants onto the chair and left a nasty blood stain. Thankfully, I had a habit of wearing black pants during my period. I showed him the blood stain and told him I'd be going to the principal to inform him of why I bled on the chair. After that, the teacher started allowing us to go to the bathroom."

"I’d told the teacher (a man) what my problem was and he still refused to let me use the restroom. I had an awful heavy flow that day so I wasn’t going to sit there and suffer because this teacher failed to grasp my problem. I walked out of the classroom. I was also certain that even if I got in trouble, my parents would understand. I think it’s absolutely wrong for teachers to deny a student’s request to go to the bathroom for pretty much any reason unless there is some cause to think the student is using trips to the bathroom as an excuse to cut class somehow or consistently disrupt the lessons. Then I think the student, teacher, parents, and school counselor should sit down and find out what is happening."

And, in addition to men saying 'no' to bathroom breaks, some women also shared how female teachers did the same:

"I have a really small bladder and need to use the bathroom more frequently than I would like. I’ve been like this my entire life. I was also raised to be VERY respectful. When I was four years old in kindergarten, I asked my teacher if I could use the bathroom and she said no. I ended up peeing my pants. My mom told me from that point on if I had to go, I should just leave and go. If there was a problem, she’d take care of it. When it comes to personal issues, I staunchly take the apologize over ask theory. I do what I need to do; if there’s an issue I apologize."

"I just got up and went. I told every teacher to take it up with my mom if they had a problem. I did this whenever I needed to use the bathroom. In high school, it only caused a problem once with my English teacher. She hated me before the school year began because I'd quit the school play along with everyone else cause she was a bitch. Anyway, she told me no, so I sat there and stared at her for a moment, then gathered my things and told her I was going to speak to my guidance counselor. The issue was resolved after that."

And, finally, people started offering helpful solutions to this issue:

"The way my MALE teacher handled this was awesome: *Me realizing I’d started my period and wasn’t prepared for it* 'Mr. Jones, may I be excused, please?' Mr. Jones noticed I looked upset and came over to my desk, asking quietly if I needed his coat to cover myself. I nodded and stood up, but he told me to wait where I was. He then said, 'Hey, you look cold. Have you got the flu? Here, take my coat. Go and see the nurse.' He put his coat around me and saw me out of the room. When we were outside the classroom, he said, 'I’m really sorry, I don’t have anything you can change into. My wife can help you; she’s in her room on admin time. Our daughter is going through the same thing, so if you tell her you need help, she will know what to do." (His wife was also a teacher at the same school.)

"A girl in my high school asked if she could use the restroom and the teacher said no because it was the middle of class. She pleaded with him, letting him know it was an emergency. He said, 'They're always 'emergencies.'" She finally screamed, “ I’M ON MY FUCKING PERIOD !” The teacher turned beet red and she stormed off to the bathroom. So in conclusion: Try being polite and ask but if you have a real stubborn teacher, just go to the restroom anyway. If anyone asks, say it was an emergency. Another option is, before class, let the teacher know you're not feeling well and you may need to go to the bathroom without notice."

"As a male middle school teacher, here is my protocol..."

"If a student has a period blood stain that they aren’t aware of, I text the teacher group chat, the rest of whom are all females, and have them talk to the girl. To make it more discreet, I hand the female a small note telling them that they need to go see a certain teacher. (Whichever female teacher has said in the group chat that they could handle it.) Do not tell the student why they need to see that teacher. The receiving teacher will handle it.

If a student has a period blood stain, or any other stain which may embarrass them, I text the teacher group chat, and have one of the female teachers take the female student to the storage area, where we keep spare uniforms. They help the student change their uniform, then put the dirty uniform in a bag in their locker for them to take home. (We do this for boys who need new uniforms during the day, too. In that case, a male teacher helps them.)

If a student is having period cramps, the student goes to a female teacher’s classroom that has a big, comfortable chair in it. We call it the 'headache chair,' but it’s really the 'period cramp chair.' The student can stay there for one class period. If they aren’t feeling good enough to go to class after that, they go to the office to go home.

If it is a student’s first time getting their period, a female teacher handles it, but the parents are also informed immediately. It seems like the kind of thing parents want to know about immediately."

— Matthew Bates , Quora User

So, have you ever been in this situation? What do you think could be helpful for schools to implement in terms of bathroom breaks? Let us know in the comments!