Primary school teacher left furious after having to change six-year-old boy's nappy
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From nits and tantrums to constant sickness and avalanches of admins - we can all admit that primary school teachers can have a pretty rough ride sometimes.
However, one teacher's workload was really pushed to the limit after she had to change a six-year-old pupil's nappy and was, understandably, left absolutely furious.
The woman, Samantha Brick, opened up about the grubby ordeal and exactly why she was so angered after parents were, quite literally, leaving her to clean up their mess.
She opened up about the situation on MailOnline's Femail where she began relaying an anecdote about one hurried mum who 'recently forgot to drop off her son’s spare set of clothes and some nappies'.
Samantha penned: "She promised she’d return within the hour, but 90 minutes later there was still no sign of her.
"When I called to ask where they were (by this time, the poor boy had whispered to me that he’d wet himself), her response was depressingly, yet predictably, negative, 'I don’t have time! He’s at school so it’s your problem now'."
The teacher hit out against the mum's demands, claiming she was 'wrong' for making such an assumption.
She continued: "Nappy-changing very definitely isn’t in my teaching job description. Particularly because the child in question wasn’t a toddler, but a six-year-old.
"You may be stunned to hear that a mother would send her son to school without first teaching him how to use the loo. But, sadly, this blasé attitude isn’t a parental one-off."
Samantha went on to say this 'slapdash' approach towards children's welfare is fast 'becoming the norm' and says its especially prevalent amongst many 'affluent families'.
She revealed that over her 11 years in the teaching profession, she has had to deal with pupils aged from four to seven years old who still aren’t toilet-trained 'on an almost daily basis'.
On this particular occasion, Samantha's teaching assistant had to go and buy some 'appropriately sized' nappies for the 'poor child' who was 'particularly socially aware' about what was going on.
"He was incredibly embarrassed that I had to sort him out and put on a fresh nappy," she added.
Not only was the boy seemingly mortified by the whole thing but Samantha was 'furious' because the parent simply expected her to sort the situation out - despite the fact it is not at all her responsibility.
She went on: "I’m only 33, yet I’ve changed hundreds of nappies in the schools I’ve worked in. (The irony that I’m not a mother myself but have likely had more nappy experience than some of the parents I encounter doesn’t escape me.)
"The youngest was an understandable two-year-old poppet, the eldest a mortified, Spider-Man-obsessed seven-year-old lad.
"I honestly wanted to shake his parents for not carving out the time necessary to achieve this vital milestone with him."
Samantha explained that the nappy-changing faff sees that 'on every occasion lessons are stopped' leaving her to spend 'between four and five hours a week' sorting soiled nappies when she 'could be teaching'.
She admitted: "My colleagues and I find it time-consuming and wearing, but it’s become the norm. It’s the rest of the class that really loses out, especially pupils who need a bit of extra attention.
"These are most certainly the children who need my full attention, yet they get overlooked when I’m sorting the basics of keeping everyone in unsoiled clothes."
For all the parents that claim to be 'too busy' to teach their child 'such a basic skill', Samantha asked: "Why on earth do you think such an important responsibility lies more with me, someone who may only be in your child’s life a few short months, rather than with you, their parent?
"To those who still believe it’s my 'job' to deal with your child’s toilet issues, I say this: I teach a class of 30. If every child in my class turned up without proper potty training, I’d probably spend all day changing them."
She finished up by stating: "But even changing one child — your child — takes up a significant portion of my time. Time that I’m not teaching them, or their peers, the things I should be, such as how to read, or spell, or count.
"Yes, toilet training is 'boring'. But who said being a parent was one long chuckle-fest?"
The primary school teacher concluded: "Surely the fact your child will be so much happier and more confident afterwards is its own reward.
"And if that isn’t enough to motivate you, ask yourself why you committed to having children in the first place?"
Where do you stand on the matter?
