Bathroom breaks often serve students as an escape from the potential pressures of the classroom, offering students a moment to recharge. At Carlmont, some students use the time out of the class with the bathroom pass to manage their mental health, while others take a break and simply use it as a chance to refresh and regain focus.
“I leave class about three times a day, normally in the morning, just to walk around and take a break,” said Audrey Ribera, a sophomore at Carlmont.
Ribera states that she feels more refreshed and ready for the day after stepping out of class and taking a walk around campus. She also noted that longer school days, especially block scheduling days, make it more difficult to stay focused.
“It’s hard to stay focused when there is less change of pace,” Ribera said.
For her as well as many others, the bathroom pass is not seen as just a way to use the bathroom, but it is a way for those students to manage the mental challenges of longer classes.
In an anonymous student-conducted survey, students across all grade levels reported taking bathroom breaks to manage the mental challenges within their school day. The survey shows that most students leave class for 5-15 minutes due to feeling overwhelmed in their class.
The majority of students feel that longer school days, like block days, make it harder to focus, and many of those students believe more structured in-class breaks would be extremely helpful. However, a great amount of these students also feel guilty and worried about what they may be missing while stepping out of class to manage their mental health.
“I don’t leave class often, but when I do it’s mostly because of mental breakdowns or feeling overwhelmed,” said freshman Mia Brenes.
Brenes mentioned that while she used to take longer breaks with the bathroom pass, she has stopped due to not wanting to miss an extreme amount of class time.
“I do think long school days make it harder to stay focused in class,” Brenes said. “I feel a little better after stepping out, but I never really skip class entirely. Sometimes the teachers understand, but sometimes they feel like kids are just skipping for the wrong reasons.”
“Signs a student may be feeling overwhelmed include irritability, agitation, lack of focus, fatigue, shaking, changes in breathing, crying, and sleeping in class,” said Shelley Bustamante, Carlmont’s Wellness Center therapist.
Bustamante recommends integrating mindfulness exercises at the start of a class to help students manage their stress levels and emotions before they feel the need to take the bathroom pass and leave altogether.
While bathroom passes provide students the necessary chance to take care of basic needs, it also highlights the broader issue of mental health and focus in a stressful school environment. Students stepping out of class with the bathroom pass underscores the importance of recognizing their mental health needs. This suggests that providing students with more in class breaks especially on longer school days could help improve their focus and overall well-being on campus.
