There has been a new bathroom policy introduced to Rock Island High School. During class, the bathrooms stay locked. If a student wanted to use the bathroom, they would have to find a hall monitor to unlock the bathroom, to help with crowding and emergencies. They allowed the bathrooms to be unlocked during passing periods, which are 3-5 minutes.
There is also an emergency bathroom on the ground floor that is always unlocked, including second floor bathrooms that have recently been unlocked.
It is Alonna’s 2nd year here at Rocky, and this new bathroom policy has affected Alonna’s school day greatly. Alonna stated, “It has affected my school day by having to plan out when I can use the bathroom.” Even though Alonna doesn’t like the whole locking bathroom situation, she does think it helps in some ways with decreasing the vandalism within the bathrooms. Mrs. Munday is a Social studies teacher and helps with the Student Council. Mrs. Munday agrees that it has significantly helped with the vandalism within all bathrooms.
Mrs.Munday also states that this new bathroom policy is doing what it’s intended for, as she says, “I have noticed students coming back from the restroom a lot faster since this policy has been introduced. I think more students have been using the restrooms for what they are intended for, and that’s it.”
Alonna also explained that the school’s hall monitors are never around the locked bathrooms, therefore, it’s pretty hard to go to the bathroom. Mrs. Munday also explained, “Having more security staff would solve a lot of the issues we have with restrooms and the hallways. Not only would we be able to clear restrooms and hallways more efficiently, but students would also be able to access the restrooms with ease.”
Even though this new bathroom policy with locking the doors during class has its downfalls, Alonna stated, “With locking the bathroom doors during class, it most likely raises anxiety and stress for students.”
Alonna does think this new rule will last long term, and she also states that this rule makes people not want to use the bathroom as much as students used to. Mrs. Munday said, “Yes, I think mostly some version of the rule will still exist long term, because she stated, “We have already decided to leave the 2nd floor unlocked at all times, so I could see other similar changes happening, while sticking to the same overall idea.”
Mrs. Munday did have her doubts about this new policy, at first, about locking the bathrooms. Mrs. Munday stated, “I was concerned that students would not have access to the restrooms when they needed to, but after some thought, I felt that the policy would actually help students feel more comfortable to use the restroom without having to worry about the area being too crowded or their classmates doing things they are not supposed to be doing.”
During the day, students have a grace period, which is around 3-5 minutes, and the bathrooms are usually unlocked at the time being, but just imagine students trying to use the bathroom during that short amount of time. Mrs. Munday said, “Ideally, the passing period would be just a little bit longer. Even just an extra minute during the passing period would allow students to use the restrooms before class, but for the time being, that is a difficult task for most”.
