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In a decision that one advocacy group said would \u201cmake dignity non-negotiable,\u201d Philadelphia schools have adopted a new wellness program that will guarantee recess and bathroom breaks.<\/p>\n
The program also prevents teachers from withdrawing access to these through disciplinary measures, and guarantees \u201cmovement breaks\u201d for every 90 minutes of seat time in elementary schools.<\/p>\n
It was last Thursday that a marathon, 8-hour school board meeting ended with a full adoption of the wellness program advocated<\/a> by Lift Every Voice, who told the Philadelphia Inquirer that some of their members were sending their students to school in diapers since bathroom breaks were not guaranteed.<\/p>\n This grassroots, Black-led, parent organization said that if that weren\u2019t bad enough, trips to the drinking water fountains could also withheld during classroom hours.<\/p>\n Incredibly, the Inquirer reported<\/a>, these draconian controls on basic human needs took two years to codify into school regs. When they were adopted, however, the organization celebrated with music and dancing.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish we had done this much sooner. But I\u2019m pleased that we\u2019re doing it today,\u201d said one school superintendent Tony Watlington Jr.<\/p>\n Any sort of collective punishment was also banned, which included silent lunch hours\u2014where the entire school body must eat in silence due to the misbehavior of a single student\u2014and the withdrawal of access to recess and bathroom breaks.<\/p>\n