Potty Problems
Here’s an interesting coincidence:
Yesterday, my daughter Audrey’s eye was caught by an ad for Chuck E. Cheese’s school fundraising nights. She listened to the ad and commented, “That’s a good idea. Maybe we could raise money to fix our girl’s restroom.”
Then, in today’s email, I got a note from a friend who has been considering transferring her children to our elementary school. She had some nice things to say, but also some concerns. One significant issue she raised was the deteriorated condition of the restroom she had used while visiting the school. Her daughter described it as “the bathroom from hell.”
Ordinarily, I probably wouldn’t give the matter of school restrooms a whole lot of thought. I tend to think that as a culture we Americans are a bit overly-fastidious in this department.
But to have had both a current student and a mother of a potential student cite the restrooms as one of the school’s big drawbacks does give some food for thought.
My daughter has on several occasions arrived home on the verge of having an “accident” because she has avoided using the bathroom all day. She hates how the toilets sometimes don’t flush, she doesn’t like using a stall without a door, she spends hours in some discomfort when her britches get wet because the floor is flooding. I have a lot of confidence in our school’s administration, and I know that they do what they can to correct these problems. But still — could my daughter’s performance in school be negatively affected by trying to “hold it” for six hours? I guess it’s possible.
The Cleveland Municipal Schools launched a campaign several years ago to bring all facilities up to a minimum standard of “Warm, Safe & Dry.” I suspect that — compared to other urban public schools — ours is above average in all three areas. And even if the restroom is rather nasty, I feel confident that overall, my daughter’s getting a good education.
But I worry that I am in the minority of middle class parents, for whom a nasty restroom could be a tiebreaker between two schools. A persuasive body of evidence demonstrates that schools improve when they are socioeconomically diverse. Urban public schools need all the middle class families they can get. But if you have the motivation and the means to make a choice, and other strengths and weaknesses balance out, why not choose to send your child to the school with the better facilities?
My answer is that I’m hoping Audrey’s attitude will be contagious. Maybe she will foment among her fellow students an outrage against flooded floors, a demand for adequate supplies, and an expectation that they all deserve better than what they’re getting. Or, if the conditions of the bathroom stem from abuse more than from neglect, maybe she can provide an example of how to take better care of the school’s limited resources. In either case, it seems like we’re putting her in a position to make a truly positive impact on a problem that is immediately at hand. Maybe that’s a lot to ask of a seven-year-old. But then again, we have a lot of confidence in this particular seven-year-old.