Locking the Bathrooms is Not the Solution

Last week, @schoolwidebcc reposted a survey asking students to weigh in on bathroom use (and misuse!) at B-CC. The practice of locking student bathrooms was a commonly raised issue, with many students voicing their displeasure at the policy. Upon seeing the survey in my Instagram feed, it became clear to me that I was not alone in my hatred of this oft-used procedure.

I recall a time last year when I had to use the bathroom but was unable to because every B-CC bathroom on that floor was locked. It is common knowledge that bathrooms are a popular spot because they are the only place inside the school building where students can be unsupervised, leading them to vape, skip class, loiter, etc. 

But I found myself thinking hard about why it was necessary to go as far as to lock the entire bathroom, punishing and inconveniencing thousands of students for the actions of a few. Unfortunately, occurrences similar to the one I just shared are all too common nowadays.

An anonymous B-CC student shared an anecdote about a bathroom incident that occurred in January: “A group of seven to eight boys stood around the urinals, so I went to pee in one of the stalls. When I came out of the stall, there was a security guard standing inside the door…calling the rest of the security team.”

Despite the student genuinely being in the bathroom to pee, they still received the same treatment as everyone else in that bathroom.

“I was mostly just a little annoyed to be stuck in a school bathroom that smelled like smoke, vape, and urine,” the student continued. “Afterward, they asked me to give a brief statement in the office.”

To conclude our conversation, the student remarked on the survey and the effort being made in general: “It really isn’t an option to not use the bathroom…In general, I think the attitude towards vaping in the bathrooms focuses too much on catching and punishing the kids who do it instead of trying to prevent it from actually happening.”