Locking Restrooms – Is This Right?
Photo depicting students rushing into the 400 building bathroom which was currently open at the time.
December 16, 2021
As students, we sometimes get told by teachers “Why didn’t you use the bathroom during lunch?” The answer to that question is, we can’t always do that!
Here at Millikan, the administration has frequently needed to lock the student restrooms during lunch because unsafe activities have occurred such as vandalism, fires, or simply just messes.
Assistant Principal, Mr. Ashley states, “We do shut the bathrooms down when there is something inside that is inappropriate for students whether that is tagging, fire, something broken, or on occasion if there is a very large mess.”
In turn of locking the bathrooms, we are stripped away of the right and expectation we have as students to use the bathroom during our free time.
I understand that administration is not intentionally locking the restrooms and it’s strictly to keep us safe, but what happens when a teacher holds a class after the bell? What if a student has an urgent need to use the bathroom and it is closed? Most of the time there’s a line waiting to get into the bathroom’s that are currently open and you don’t even have the chance to go before the bell rings for next period!
An anonymous student stated “[Some] people have to choose between food and using the bathroom.” This is also not fair to students; lunch is our time to get all the things done we haven’t in class and we are essentially choosing between two things: using the bathroom or eating.
I feel that locking us out of the restrooms takes away an often right we are provide as students to be able to use the bathroom freely during our lunch period.
“I see the main issue being people who are making the bathroom unsafe for other students. If that wasn’t occurring I don’t have to close them. I close them out of necessity, not out of want,” says Ashley.
It’s really only a small percentage of students that are abusing their rights of the privacy of a bathroom. I do respect the faculties’ decision to close the bathrooms when necessary, but the majority of students actually need to use the restroom and aren’t just using the bathroom as a place to do something against the rules.
Ashley finished by stating, “Our main goal is to make sure we have safe, open bathrooms for our students so first: safe, second: open.”
Another instance where the bathrooms have been locked or out of order due to misbehavior.
Mathew • Feb 2, 2022 at 10:29 am
Dear Sophia Bright
In Issue 2/2022 (published December 16, 2021), Sophia Bright wrote an article titled “ Locking Restrooms Is This Right ?” The article mentions that the administration for Millikan Highschool has locked bathrooms in buildings during lunch time which has been becoming an issue. As mentioned in the article “We sometimes get told by teachers “Why didn’t you use the bathroom during lunch?” The answer to that question is, we can’t always do that! “ I completely agree with Sophia on this because how are we supposed to use the restroom while restrooms are being locked and we have to search and search for the ones that are opened. Us as students don’t have time for that so thats why we wait until we get into our classes to use the restrooms. Teachers are even getting stricter letting kids out to use the restroom but they shouldn’t be. As mentioned in the article, the reason being is that a small percentage of students are abusing and causing troubles in the bathroom which ruins it for others. Its not fair for the students if you ask me. When I heard our school district was going this, I already new there were going to be problems occurring. I think by locking bathrooms during lunch periods, it causes more chaos and students all rushing into on bathroom waiting for others to get out since they are only a few bathrooms opened per gender. A recommendation for the school to fix this occurring issue is to start opening all restrooms during lunch time so teachers don’t have to worry about students leaving class and missing their lecture. Thank you Sophia Bright !
Sincerely ,
Mathew Jurado, Grade 11
Kamorra Holloway • Jan 31, 2022 at 3:02 pm
I think locking the bathrooms isn’t right because as students we have the right to use the bathroom at school so locking the bathrooms is taking away that right. Plus some teachers don’t let us go during class so the only time we have to go to the bathroom is during lunch or passing period. I do understand why they lock them which sucks because those people ruin it for the people who use the bathrooms right.
Jasmine • Jan 31, 2022 at 3:02 pm
I completely agree that locking the bathrooms isn’t right. During lunch, I always have to use the restroom and when I go to the nearest one, its sometimes locked. In this case, I basically have to walk far to use the bathroom. It frustrates me that people in general dont know how to follow rules in the bathroom. Just use the bathroom and leave. If it continues to be locked, there should be a guard by the bathroom to monitor it so we can use the restroom like normal.
Kamorra Holloway • Jan 31, 2022 at 2:58 pm
I think locking the bathrooms isn’t right because we need to go to the bathroom plus some teachers don’t let us go during class so the only time we have to go to the restrooms are during passing period and lunch. I do understand why they lock them which sucks because those people ruin it for the people who actually need to go use the bathrooms.
Mareli S • Jan 31, 2022 at 2:13 pm
In Issue 4/2021 (published December 16, 2021), Sophie Bright wrote an article titled “Locking Restrooms- Is This Right? ” The article informs students on why the staff have been locking these restrooms. Their reasoning involve inappropriate behavior, usage, and writing. However, Sophie very well mentions that students are struggling to find an open restroom. I myself have had to walk pretty far when having to simply go to the bathroom. I agree that the restrooms should not be locked whether that be in a case of emergency or if I just have to go. Restrooms are a necessity and should not be stripped. I think the majority of students can also agree with Sophie. I can see the staff wanting to provide a more safer environment for the students but regardless of if you close some bathrooms that will only make the ones available even more full. Have you seen the lines in the restrooms? They are so long that some of us don’t even get to use them. Which is another thing she had mentioned, it takes up so much time wasting our lunch. Resulting in more kaos and more unhappy students. The lines are long as is, cutting the access to our restrooms is not the way to go. We have our rights, and we need our freedom to use the restroom.
Alex Rodriguez • Jan 31, 2022 at 12:20 pm
Dear Corydon Editor,
In Issue 3/2021 (published December 16, 2021), Sophie Bright wrote an article titled “Locking Restrooms – Is This Right?” The article explains and informs the reader why the restrooms around the school have been closed recently. Before reading the article I was confused as to why they were closing bathrooms. However, the article says how administrators chose to close them because of unsafe activities. It’s pretty annoying and inconvenient when the restrooms are closed, but I understand why staff may want to close them sometimes. I believe that students who are causing messes should think about the results of their actions. It inconveniences all the students when restrooms are closed due to other students’ choices. Overall, students should be able to use their free time for necessities like food or using the bathroom. As students, I think we should respect that and not cause inconveniences for each other. The article was able to inform me on the reasoning for bathrooms being closed, as well as student opinion which I agree with. I also like how the author wrote about teachers frequently asking students “Why didn’t you go to the bathroom during lunch?” I often hear my teachers say this and when the bathrooms are closed, we simply cannot go during lunch, it’s not like we do it on purpose.
Michelle Rivera • Jan 20, 2022 at 4:08 pm
I agree that locking restrooms is taking our freedom from going to the restroom. I think we should definitely leave the restrooms unlocked. But I get that accidents happen in the restrooms and people mess around in there so I understand why the school administrators lock them.
Alejandra Robles • Jan 5, 2022 at 8:18 pm
I think that locking restrooms is not a good idea. I feel it would be better if we left the restrooms unlocked for students to use on their free time. By the time the food is done selling, we have no time to do anything. Its a choice to make during lunch instead of enjoying our break.
Sally Dickman • Jan 5, 2022 at 12:26 am
I 100% agree that the locked bathrooms is an issue and that it does NOT in anyway help the students and teachers because the teachers want us to go during our “free time” and to not go during class so if the bathroom is locked during our “free time” then the students have to go during class.
Jocelyn A. Molina • Jan 5, 2022 at 12:08 am
I agree that school administrators should not lock our bathrooms due to others’ ideas to improperly use them. Instead of punishing those of us who did no wrong alongside those who did is unfair and takes away certain privileges. As I was reading, I wondered about some ways we can lower the chances of things like tagging, fire, something broken, or the occasion of a very large mess happening.
anthony benavidez • Jan 4, 2022 at 3:50 pm
i agree that locking the bathrooms was stripping our rights and wasted what little free time at lunch we got.
Eric • Jan 4, 2022 at 2:16 pm
I agree that they shouldn’t lock them because I would need to use the restroom then end up having to walk around the whole school because it was locked.
Sophie Banda • Jan 4, 2022 at 11:57 am
I liked this article because it gave me an explanation on why they close the bathroom, but I think that they should fix that problem because not everyone messes around.
Savannah Carpenter • Jan 3, 2022 at 12:00 pm
I agree that the issue of locked bathrooms is something to be fixed. Teachers 100% expect students to use restrooms during breaks and it is not always possible to do so, which gets the student in trouble for something they had no control over. My only question is, is it possible to figure out a way to prevent this issue? What can we do to make sure that the need to lock bathrooms does not have to occur?
Genevieve • Dec 18, 2021 at 11:16 am
i dont think all students should be punished just because other people wanna mess around in the bathroom. i agree there is a problem but i dont think locking it is the proper sloution.