Still a taboo subject, not “serious” enough... The impact of potty-training on public health and the social development of our little ones should not be taken lightly. While the AFV (Association Française d'Urologie [2] ) recommends going to the toilet every 3 hours, what's really going on?

A public health issue throughout the school career

To understand the importance of toilets at school, we first need to look at some figures. And let's agree that what emerges is quite simply appalling.

In France, 8 out of 10 children say they refrain from going to the toilet at school [3] : 1/3 of secondary school pupils don't go to the toilet even though they spend half their day in the public space [4] , while out of 24,781 primary school pupils surveyed, 1,784 never have a bowel movement during school time. Uro-paediatrician Michel Averous [5] points out that there are more urological infections during school hours than during the vacations. The result is this alarming figure: urinary incontinence affects 27.6% of women and girls. What's more, only 40% of school toilets are accessible to people with reduced mobility.

The failure to meet pupils' basic needs caused by non-compliant school toilets is likely to have repercussions on their physical well-being (leaks and urinary infections, stomach aches, constipation, etc.) and on the mobilization of higher functions (lack of concentration at work, learning difficulties...).

So the question remains: why such high figures when children's desire to go to the toilet is a daily occurrence, and they can't decently go 8 hours without doing so?

What puts our children off

The list of things that prevent pupils from going to the toilet is long: the first reason given is that the sanitary facilities are in poor condition, or even dysfunctional:

- Hygiene. Rather dubious, the toilets are not cleaned or are cleaned too little.

- Lack of paper. This is the second point raised by children when questioned. Toilet paper is sometimes deliberately removed by establishments to avoid toilets clogged with rolls or children using it for other purposes. This has consequences: either there's simply no paper at all, or, in some schools, the child has to ask the teacher for a roll. Hats off to privacy. The obvious consequence: the impossibility of wiping oneself, leading to vulvitis and urinary infections in little girls, and constipation in boys.

- Lack of pegs. Superficial? No. Because children can't hang up their coats and/or bags on them. To be on the safe side, they'd rather not go there than leave them on the floor, which is often soiled.

- Hand washing and wiping. As with paper, soaps and paper are sometimes deliberately removed so that children don't play with them. It should also be noted that push-buttons have been found to be too difficult for younger children to handle.

- Lack of privacy. In kindergartens, toilets are often shared, open and visible from the corridors. In primary schools, partitions are too often poorly positioned: they are not low enough at the bottom and not high enough at the top: 49% of pupils are afraid of being spied on.

- Ashamed to ask to go to the toilet during school time. Many of us remember the unpleasant reflections: “You'll go to the bathroom during recess” or “You should have thought of that before”. Nothing has changed since then, even though chronobiological studies have been carried out on pupils' timetables since the 1980s.

- Fear of violence. As we'll see later, toilets are also a place for socializing, which brings with it its own dangers: a place for violence and harassment at school.

In short, in order to avoid going to the bathroom, children voluntarily implement avoidance strategies. They drink and eat less so they don't feel like going. It's a real public health issue, but not the only one. Refusing to go to the toilet also has a sociological impact on children's development.

Toilets: a place for social development

For children, school toilets are more than just an obligatory part of the day. Sociologically, it's a place where they grow up.

Indeed, in essence, going to the toilet is often their only moment of intimacy where they can find themselves, breathe a little and isolate themselves. As a school day often lasts as long as a working day, it's understandable that this time is important, even necessary.

By its very nature, this little corner away from the eyes and ears of adults is transgressive. And what happens there? For boys, there's the transgression of adult authority, where our toddlers play games that are forbidden in the playground (water games, etc.), and where silence reigns supreme. For girls, on the other hand, it's not unusual to find discussions that are important to them: they confide in each other about their worries and talk about their intimacy [6].

So, the question is simple: how can we improve the toilet so that it once again becomes a little corner that children enjoy going to?

Simple solutions for toilet access

And yet, very simple solutions do exist to make the toilet a safe and welcoming place once again:

- Clean toilets by providing the necessary cleaning materials,

- Odor-free toilets,

- Warm water for hand washing [7],

- softer pushers for the little hands of 3/5 year-olds,

- Ensuring children's privacy (e.g. through partitions),

- Adult supervision.

If our children continue to refrain from going to the bathroom at school, it's all the more important to remind them that toilets must be accessible, and that there's no shame in asking to use them, even in the middle of the street. Solutions do exist. Our BubblesMapper application ensures that public, welcoming places that respect privacy and cleanliness are close to where you are.