Psychologist Larisa Surkova on education reform: You need to start with toilets

Larisa Surkova, a practicing specialist, candidate of psychological sciences, mother of four children and a popular blogger, raised a problem that literally hooked everyone.

Think back to your own school days. What was the most unpleasant thing? Well, other than the nasty chemist, classroom cleaning, and sudden tests? Perhaps we will not be mistaken if we assume that these were trips to the toilet. At breaks, the queue, at the lesson, not every time the teacher will let go, and even in the toilet itself – trouble is trouble … Dirty, pathetic, no booths – almost holes in the floor, doors wide open, and no toilet paper, of course. And since then, the situation has not changed much.

“Do you know where to start education reform? From school toilets! ” – Larisa Surkova, a well-known psychologist, said emotionally.

According to the specialist, there can be no talk of any quality education and development of children until schools have normal toilets – with booths, toilet paper and trash cans. And no electronic textbooks and diaries, no technologies will cover this problem. Psychologists still treat people with injuries from school toilets.

“An adult woman, about 40 years old. We have been working for four months. History of unsuccessful personal life; the inability to endure pregnancy and several suicides in adolescence (I did not remember the reasons, the memory and treatment in the psychiatric ward were all blocked), – Larisa Surkova gives an example. – What did the therapy lead us to? Sixth grade, school toilet, no lockable booth and no waste bins. And the girl started menstruating. She asked her friends to watch, but those critical days had not yet begun and they did not know what it was. They saw it and smashed it to everyone. “

And do not think that there are no such problems now. Among the psychologist’s patients, there is a schoolboy who suffers from severe psychological constipation – all because of a dirty toilet without the ability to close. Such cases, according to Surkova, are not isolated. And the problem is deeper than it seems. About three years ago, a study was conducted in the country, according to which approximately 85 percent of schoolchildren admitted that they did not go to the toilet at school at all. And for this reason, they try not to have breakfast, not drink, and not go to the dining room. But they come home – and come off in the kitchen in full.

For the safety of children, their personal boundaries are rudely violated

“Do you think they are getting healthier? And if one day they do not hold back and do not report home? What will happen? What glory? ” – Larisa Surkova asks the question. The psychologist advises, when choosing a school for a child, be sure to look at the toilet. And if it’s terrible, look for another school. Or even transfer the kid to home schooling. Otherwise, there is a high probability of raising a person with a psychosomatically diseased intestine.

In this regard, school administrations say that everything is done for the safety of children: so that they do not misbehave, do not smoke, so that they can get the child out of the booth, if anything. However, the psychologist is sure: such measures from smoking have not saved anyone yet. But the demonstration of extreme disrespect for the personality of the child is obvious.

By the way, the readers of Surkova’s blog agreed with her almost unanimously. “I read this and understood why I try not to eat or drink on the way. In order not to go to a public toilet, ”one of the readers writes in the comments. “What if he’s there, behind a locked door, will arrange suicide, or a heart attack or a diabetic will happen,” others argue.

What do you think, do you need booths with latches on the doors at the school?

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