Here's a story that James Taranto links to about silly regulations in the public schools. Taranto thinks this is ridiculous. Yeah, nobody's ever sued him. Look, I'm going to stand up for the teachers on this one. They are responsible for all these kids in their classes, most of whom they love but a few of whom are a massive pain in the ass and among other things ask to go to the bathroom eighteen times a day. When the parents stop demanding the right to sue teachers for eighteen million dollars if a kid should get hit by a bus while they're on duty, then teachers will be willing to be more permissive with said parents' kids. Until then, the rules are the rules and the only way teachers and administrators can be safe against lawsuits that might well ruin them, and there are an absolute shitload of such lawsuits backed up in the courts, is to draw the line and enforce it. If parents and kids don't like it, that's just too damned bad.

The rule, as always, is that the class goes to the bathroom as a group several times every day. If a kid has to go outside those several toilet trips every day, he gets fifteen free trips a month. That seems more than fair to me. I wouldn't let a kid assigned to me get out of my sight, personally.