No Permission to Pee

Boy, I wouldn’t fare very well at this school:

Under a new policy at the Lawrence Middle School, seventh- and eighth-graders are allowed to leave class for the bathroom a maximum of 15 times a month. As a result, some are afraid to use up their bathroom passes too quickly and end up with a full bladder and nowhere to go.
School officials defend the policy as a way to ensure safety, security and order. But some parents say the system goes too far. The right to go to the bathroom, they say, is a health and civil rights issue and as taxpayers, they think it is a freedom they pay for.
“When my son Matthew used all his passes, he was then told he couldn’t go to the bathroom,” parent Susan Gregory said in a published report. “We called the school and were told the bathroom is a privilege, not a right.
“This is utterly ridiculous. Now my son doesn’t want to go to the bathroom at school,” she said. “He says he won’t drink or he’ll hold it until he gets home. This can’t be healthy.”
Urologists say the practice can lead to infections and incontinence.
“Common sense tells you the policy doesn’t make any sense,” said Dr. Christopher S. Cooper, an associate professor of urology at the University of Iowa who specializes in pediatric urology. “When children need to go, they should be allowed to go. It isn’t good to hold it in or drink less fluids. It could have long-term effects on a child’s health.”

The school reportedly adopted this policy because of bomb threats and students cutting class. Bomb threats? I don’t quite follow the logic. I just hope the brains at the Department of Homeland Security don’t pick up on this as an effective way of combating terrorism. I don’t want to have to hold it every time we go to code orange.