Two school districts. Two states. The same emergency.
In Pasco County, Florida, at least 10 children in every single one of the district's 52 elementary schools arrived at kindergarten this year still in diapers.
The school board held an emergency meeting. The superintendent said on the record: "It is not the kindergarten teachers' responsibility to be changing diapers for kindergartners."
A policy is now being considered that would send unpotty-trained children home until families resolve it.
In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, the school board voted unanimously to make teachers officially responsible for potty training.
5-year-olds were arriving unable to use the bathroom independently in large enough numbers that the district had no other option.
The headlines blamed the parents.
Child development specialists say the real problem is what the children are wearing.
Modern disposable diapers absorb moisture in under a second — keeping skin completely dry, erasing the sensory feedback the brain needs to learn.
No sensation means no signal.
No signal means no training.
It's not a readiness problem. It's a feedback problem.
That's why pediatric OTs are recommending UpAiry training pants — designed to restore that sensation without the mess, so the brain finally gets the signal it's been missing.