Parent’s believe schools should do more to avoid toilet hell

Children are not learning enough about the importance of health and hygiene in their daily lives, with 90 per cent of parents believing it is the schools job to teach them.

The stinky school toilets that parents remember from their own school days still scar their minds today with two thirds of us wincing at the poor quality toilet paper we were forced to use, or worse, the one in three parents remembering there being no toilet paper at all.

New research released by SCA discovered that our experience of school toilets still affects us in our adult lives and is the reason behind many believing it actually impacts on our children’s ability to enjoy their school days and realise their potential.

Filthy facts the results uncovered found that one in ten adults remember finding urine or excrement on toilet floors and walls with one in three avoiding going to the toilet during school hours because of the bad conditions.

To avoid using school toilets, 15 per cent admitted to waiting until getting home in the afternoon to use their own toilet, 8 per cent went home at lunchtime just to use the toilet and 4 per cent sought out public toilets instead.

Director of the Bristol based UK charity ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence) Jenny Perez commented: “These results highlight the issues that children with poor toilet hygiene in schools face.  Avoiding toilets can lead to or exacerbate serious health problems such as incontinence (bedwetting, daytime wetting and soiling) with over 1 in 12 children of school age in the UK affected.

“Reluctance to use toilets can also cause constipation which is a major issue amongst school children.  But poor toilets and poor toilet hygiene are not only an issue for those with incontinence; they affect all children and young people at school and may also affect their academic attainment and attendance levels. It is great that SCA is raising awareness around this important issue through their Hygiene Matters report”