October-November Poll Results



Question:  What should a child or teen say to somebody who teases them 
             about their bedwetting, or about wearing diapers?

    70 people voted.  Their ages ranged from 7 to 58.  12 people were 
        age 21 or over, 18 were age 16-20, 24 were age 11-15, 7 were 
        age 7-10, and 9 did not give their age.

    51 reported that they had been teased by someone about their 
       bedwetting or about wearing diapers.  Only 14 had never been 
       teased (12 kids and 2 adults), and 5 did not say.  The ages of those 
       that had been teased included all ages (including adults that either 
       still wet the bed or were former bedwetters).

    Votes for what to say when you are teased were as follows:

    13 votes for: "Leave me alone."  :(   (sad face)

     5 votes for: "You ____ ____ creep!"  (bad words left out) 

     3 votes for: "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will 
                     never harm me."

    22 votes for: "I've got a bladder medical problem. Give me a break."

    16 votes for: "Everybody has imperfections. What are yours?"

     21 votes for: "It could happen to you someday."

     20 votes for: "There are nearly 200 million kids in the world like me."

     21 votes for: Nothing... they should just ignore whomever 
                     teases them.

     10 had other ideas, such as:

Age 15: "If possible, use humor. It may be hard, but if you can get them to laugh WITH you, it will be better than being a smart alek, if you do that  they will only keep bugging you."

Age 12: "my problem does not concern you, why are you judgeing me, im a sound sleeper, I don't do it on purpose."

Age 14: "Do you think I like wearing diapers?"

Age 10: "Just wait. Every one has a problem like this at some point in their lives. Yours is just yet to come."

Age 58: "Why do u CARE!!! <{{{ :( }}<"

Age 8: "im telling on you!"

Age 13: "So i guess youre perfect, right?/??"

Age 17: "look wats ya problem i mean it happens to a lot of people so gimme a break coz it ain't my fault unless ur face wants a date with miss fist"

Age ??: "ignorance - KungFu"

Age 12: "my schools nurse is reely nice and she found me frend who wet just like me.Its reely nice to have a special frend that i kno wont tease me and we can talk. ."

Age 24: "Not my fault"

Most kids who wet the bed or wear diapers report being teased by someone.  Teasers are most commonly brothers or sisters, but (and much worse) teasers may also be the bedwetter's "friends", who have discovered his secret.  Other kids can be cruel in their teasing.  Fear of being teased and humiliated is why bedwetting is usually kept a secret.  For example, even though there are a estimated 200 million kids in the world that wet the bed, most kids who wet do not know anyone else who does so.  Many famous people were bedwetters, such as Michael Landon, the actor, but very few ever reveal it.  

It was so wonderful of that school nurse, in the above 12 year-old's posting, to bring the two kids together who both wet.  We encourage children and teens who wet the bed to talk to their school nurses about hooking up with other kids who also wet.  It is the isolation of bedwettters that gives the teasers their power.  If kids who wet had friends who also wet, then being teased would not be nearly as devastating.  And if bedwetters were able to be open about their problem, they probably wouldn't be teased in the first place.

The Internet is a wonderful place for kids who wet the bed to find other kids who wet and to ban together.  Internet friends can give a child or teen the courage to risk telling someone outside the web, like their best friend.  Furthermore, web friends can give support if the child's or teen's bedwetting secret happens to be discovered by his non-web friends.  

Hopefully someday kids will no longer have to keep wetting the bed a secret. This would certainly lift a great burden from their shoulders, and might also influence healthcare systems to finally acknowledge bedwetting as a real medical problem and to offer better coverage for treatment.  We plan to have a poll in the near future on how this could be brought about.