Question about Public School Bathrooms

[oldskool]

I was at a local middle school school today and was shocked to go into the girls bathroom and find that all but one of the six stalls had no doors. Is this common in schools now? It may sound strange, but this loss of privacy would be one reason that I would never consider putting my kids into this particular public school (and it is in one of the best in the state). Anyone have experience in public schools to know if this is common now?

 

Lesley

[JFSinIL]

Our local middle school only allows two kids at a time into any bathroom...then the teachers get mad if the kids do not "do their business" during the THREE MINUTE passing period between classes.:glare:

[Tap]

Pretty common. But I don't see the difference between the girls and boys bathrooms in lack of privacy. Urinals have rarely been private and boys have more reason to want privacy that girls IMHO. Their 'maturity' is out there for everyone to see.

 

I am a very private person and would wait for the one stall with a door, but Most of my friends are not so I don't think it would be a problem for most people.

[Daisy]

Our older public parks are the same way. No stall doors. UUGH.

[Gwenhwyfar]

yikes - i've never seen a washroom without doors on the stalls!

[Snickerdoodle]

Urinals have rarely been private and boys have more reason to want privacy that girls IMHO.

 

One word: Menses

[Gwenhwyfar]

One word: Menses

 

yeah really!

 

i'm seriously amazed by this.

 

no doors.... so everybody can just see everyone else doing their business?

 

*shudder*

[Tap]

One word: Menses

 

Yes, but that is not an every day thing. I assume that is why they have one stall with a door.

 

 

Most men's bathrooms I have been in have a stall or two with a door also, for bowel movements and privacy for those who want it.

 

 

 

ETA: why would menses require any more privacy than a BM? Honestly it is all just bodily function.

 

 

I am curious how other countries handle this. What about the Asian countries that have just a hole in the ground?

Edited September 18, 2010 by Tap, tap, tap

[oldskool]

One word: Menses

 

Yes, this is what I was thinking. I cannot imagine dealing with this without a door. Especially in the middle school years when it is a new thing to figure out. Actually now that I think about it I don't think I could do it even as an adult.

 

I do though think boys need privacy too. My son would refuse to use a urinal or any toilet without a door.

 

Lesley

[AndyJoy]

It's common enough to be featured in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie. The girls' bathroom stalls in my hometown had doors, but the boys' didn't though the urinals did have dividers at least.

 

As a teen I NEVER would have used a doorless stall unless I had a best-friend to stand there with her back to me, and even that would have been uncomfortable.

 

Mandatory group showers were one reason I was so grateful that my mom founded a school when I started 7th grade!

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

Between this and the locked door thread, I wonder why parents don't mind sending their kids to daily prisons.

 

I remember freedom. Don't you?

[oldskool]

Mandatory group showers were one reason I was so grateful that my mom founded a school when I started 7th grade!

 

Yes, I remember the humiliation of group showers. Our Phy.Ed teacher used to stand and watch to make sure we all got wet. :eek:

[Meriwether]

When I taught, I had one student who would turn on a faucet so that no one would hear her in the stall. My elementary and middle schools had no doors. I would "hold it" until I got home - sometimes for six hours.

 

It may just be body functions, but different people have different comfort levels. And, IMO, that is one area that can be very uncomfortable to be out of your comfort level. Saying that menses is no different than a BM doesn't carry much weight with me, because I wouldn't have a BM in front of anyone either. I wouldn't care to see anyone else deal with either one. :ack2:

[bettyandbob]

I'll bet there is one bathroom in the building that has doors and the girls find it by the end of the first week of school. Probably the bathroom attached to the gym lockers.

 

However, a lot of school have gone to this. It discourages smoking in the bathroom. It discourages hiding out in the bathroom to cut a class. It speeds up the use of the bathroom. I wouldn't have a problem with such a bathroom except for that time of the month.

[NanceXToo]

Really? That's crazy. I would NEVER use a bathroom that didn't have a stall door for privacy. Not as a teen, not as an adult. And I wouldn't expect my children to, either, once they've reached an age where they understand a degree of modesty (as opposed to say a toddler, who I'd likely be standing in front of anyway).

[AndyJoy]

Yes, I remember the humiliation of group showers. Our Phy.Ed teacher used to stand and watch to make sure we all got wet. :eek:

 

In our district, no adult was allowed to be in there, which created a whole new set of problems!

[Crissy]

I haven't seen a missing stall door in any of the public school I've been to in our area (and for various reasons I've been to quite a few). This is consistent at the elementary, junior high and high school level.

I've asked my sons and they tell me that the stalls in all of the boys bathrooms have doors as well.

[Crissy]

Between this and the locked door thread, I wonder why parents don't mind sending their kids to daily prisons.

 

I remember freedom. Don't you?

 

Indeed, and we still experience it every day. Even with one child enrolled in the public school system full time, and the other participating on a part-time basis.

 

Daily prisons. Sheesh. :001_rolleyes:

[LaissezFaire]

Personally I think it's horrible. And honestly, men do not have it all out there in the open, it's pretty discreet for them. Women have to have their pants all the way down around their ankles.

 

I know that I could never pee in a stall with no door and I would probably hold it all day which is so very unhealthy and depending on the person could scar your kidneys.

 

On another note, is society going to baby kids all the way through life now? When do they have personal responsibility? Where will they learn it? So they cut class by hanging out in the bathroom, they get caught and they get in trouble. It's a consequence. They learn something.

 

I had never heard of Zangle.com until yesterday. At first I thought it was kind of a neat concept to know exactly what your kid had assigned, their grade,etc.. But the more I thought about it the more scary-controlling it sounds. The parent can check and see exactly what the kid ordered for lunch, it's noted when a parent takes a kid out for a dental appointment. It's monitoring and I don't like it.

 

I realize that it sounds strange coming from someone who has her kids at home and pretty much also always knows this stuff but it's not the same. I homeschool to give my kids a better education and learning environment, not to monitor their every move.

 

School is really, really beginning to sound like prison. What's next numbers for all the students? I ask again, when will they learn personal responsibility?

[teachermom2834]

I have never had to use such a bathroom but I will admit I have recurring nightmares about it and have since I was a child. It's up there with getting on the school bus naked for me and having to take a final exam in a class I've never been to.

 

I don't think I've ever even seen such a bathroom except in a movie about prison (and in my nightmares).:confused:

 

And menses- no way could I handle that. I would have to stay home from school and I would allow my daughter to. If you have a heavy flow...well...that is just beyond anything that can be handled in a doorless stall (in my opinion of course).

[Crissy]

Personally I think it's horrible. And honestly, men do not have it all out there in the open, it's pretty discreet for them. Women have to have their pants all the way down around their ankles.

 

 

:)

I agree that it would be ridiculously uncomfortable using a bathroom without a door on the stall. I wouldn't do it.

But do women really push their pants all the way to their ankles?

[melissel]

:)

I agree that it would be ridiculously uncomfortable using a bathroom without a door on the stall. I wouldn't do it.

But do women really push their pants all the way to their ankles?

 

I do, nearly. If I don't, then I risk them touching the toilet itself, which is usually pretty hideous.

 

I'm so horrified by this concept, my scalp is actually tingling! I've never experienced this, not in my own schools and not in any I've been in since. What a gross invasion of privacy, so disrespectful of our sense of modesty and humanity. I don't really care what's done in other countries. Here in ours, we have a certain standard and expectation, and to treat kids like that is to treat them like animals :( I don't really think of our school system as a prison system, but I do think there are some that seem to consider their students to be little better than livestock.

[AndyJoy]

I have never had to use such a bathroom but I will admit I have recurring nightmares about it and have since I was a child. It's up there with getting on the school bus naked for me and having to take a final exam in a class I've never been to.

 

I have nightmares about being on a toilet in the center of a room surrounded by people with just a newspaper for cover!

[Laura Corin]

What about the Asian countries that have just a hole in the ground?

 

However, people don't stare - one just pays attention to what one is doing. Well, except out in the countryside where you are the only foreigner ever seen in the village. Then people will stare.

 

Laura

[oldskool]

I am curious how other countries handle this. What about the Asian countries that have just a hole in the ground?

 

When I was traveling in Asian countries as a kid the hole in the ground did not bother me too much. Although I can't say it was comfortable. Maybe because I could chalk it up to not being home, therefore, just part of the travel experience. I think it would be different having to go to the bathroom in front of middle school queen bees who you had to then sit next to in class every day all year long.

 

Lesley

[Mothersweets]

However, people don't stare - one just pays attention to what one is doing. Well, except out in the countryside where you are the only foreigner ever seen in the village. Then people will stare.

 

Laura

 

Dear heavens! I wouldn't last five minutes there.

[Laura Corin]

Dear heavens! I wouldn't last five minutes there.

 

Laura

[Ravin]

There were no doors on the toilet stalls in Navy boot camp. And open showers. You got over the lack of privacy in a big hurry.

 

I don't see it as that big of a deal, really. I never had to shower in high school/middle school though. The private school I went to in middle school didn't have facilities for it and high school had showers but the kids in real athletics used them, not those of us in the lame-o P.E. class. No way would I have showered in front of those girls--it was bad enough having to change clothes with them, esp. given that my gym clothes wound up in the toilet at least once.

 

Really, I don't see the big deal, overall. Public parks here often are door-less, too, though they'll be arranged so that you don't see the person doing their business unless you round a corner--which you just don't do if you know someone is there, kwim?

 

I've never seen an actual hole in the ground, but in public places I sometimes miss the squat-style toilets found in parts of Asia (most notably from personal experience, Japan). You don't have to TOUCH anything to do your business, unlike a Western-style toilet. More sanitary when you stop to think about it.

[DianeW88]

The middle schools here have half doors on all the stalls. Think the bottom half of a dutch door. So, your head is visible to all who enter the rest room, but the lower part of you is not.

 

Diane W.

married for 22 years

homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

[LauraGB]

It seems to be pretty common in my state, too. We go to tournaments held at various public schools, and nearly all of them have this issue. At first, I just thought it was a poorer school and maybe they didn't have any left over funds for doors on the stalls:confused:. But, I don't think that's the case since I see this phenomena more and more often.

 

Personally, I find it utterly demeaning. It might be different if American society was used to this, but we are not. No way would I use the toilet in the 7th grade if there is no privacy; I'd sooner wet my pants and go home.

 

And as an adult, it wouldn't happen, either. At least at my age, I can extract myself from an uncomfortable situation without needing to ask permission.

[LauraGB]

The middle schools here have half doors on all the stalls. Think the bottom half of a dutch door. So, your head is visible to all who enter the rest room, but the lower part of you is not.

 

Diane W.

married for 22 years

homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

 

Why in the world? :001_huh: Couldn't they just spring for the other half?

[Jean in Newcastle]

Why in the world? :001_huh: Couldn't they just spring for the other half?

 

Same reason as a pp mentioned - to stop smoking in the bathrooms etc.

[LaissezFaire]

:)

I agree that it would be ridiculously uncomfortable using a bathroom without a door on the stall. I wouldn't do it.

But do women really push their pants all the way to their ankles?

LOL, ok maybe it's just me.

[tangomoon]

From the perspective of someone who taught in an elementary ps for a while, it was surprising sometimes to see how much inappropriate behavior went on behind those closed stall doors. In addition to the more common writing all over the stall, there would be feces smeared all over the walls, huge clogs of tissue and other items in the toilets, etc. At some schools that is why the doors are taken down. Can't say I agree with it fully, but the bathroom behaviors were a big problem.

[DarlaS]

My sister (who is eight years older than me) informed me there weren't any stall doors when she went to middle school & high school.

 

This would have been in the mid to late 70's. There were doors when I attended (same school). I distinctly remember being relieved to see them!

[In The Great White North]

I haven't seen a missing stall door in any of the public school I've been to in our area (and for various reasons I've been to quite a few). This is consistent at the elementary, junior high and high school level.

 

Here too.

 

There were no doors on the toilet stalls in Navy boot camp.

 

I knew there was a reason I joined the Army!

 

I've seen hole in the ground type restrooms in Europe (mostly on autobahns) but they were in stalls/ single rooms with doors!

[Gwenhwyfar]

i'm off doing some housework and this thread keeps popping into my head...:tongue_smilie:

 

i don't even use the washroom in front of my husband for crying out loud (way too embarrassing!)... can NOT imagine having to do it in front of strangers. gaahhhh!!!!

[Gwenhwyfar]

it was surprising sometimes to see how much inappropriate behavior went on behind those closed stall doors.

 

....but it's not "inappropriate" to watch someone else use the bathroom??

 

way horrifying. i don't want someone watching me clean my tail and i sure as heck don't want to see anyone else doing it. GROSS.

 

(obviously i like my privacy in the bathroom.)

(and may be a little uptight about this)

(which is odd for me)

[Garga]

That would be horrible for me. I don't even do my business in front of my own family--dh included.

 

I also hate to see someone else doing their business. It makes me think of smells that I don't want to smell. I really hate in movies when they have a scene where the man is going to the bathroom. (Like in Independence Day: the Will Smith character wakes up and goes to the bathroom before seeing the alien ships. Why do they have to put that in there??)

 

And I really hate it when people talk to me in a public bathroom when I'm in my stall. Or when they're peeing and they just talk over the tinkle.

 

If I was a kid, I'd do my best to hold it all day.

[cjthedog64]

Personally I think it's horrible. And honestly, men do not have it all out there in the open, it's pretty discreet for them. Women have to have their pants all the way down around their ankles.

 

I know that I could never pee in a stall with no door and I would probably hold it all day which is so very unhealthy and depending on the person could scar your kidneys.

 

On another note, is society going to baby kids all the way through life now? When do they have personal responsibility? Where will they learn it? So they cut class by hanging out in the bathroom, they get caught and they get in trouble. It's a consequence. They learn something.

 

I had never heard of Zangle.com until yesterday. At first I thought it was kind of a neat concept to know exactly what your kid had assigned, their grade,etc.. But the more I thought about it the more scary-controlling it sounds. The parent can check and see exactly what the kid ordered for lunch, it's noted when a parent takes a kid out for a dental appointment. It's monitoring and I don't like it.

 

I realize that it sounds strange coming from someone who has her kids at home and pretty much also always knows this stuff but it's not the same. I homeschool to give my kids a better education and learning environment, not to monitor their every move.

 

School is really, really beginning to sound like prison. What's next numbers for all the students? I ask again, when will they learn personal responsibility?

 

 

My stepkids had a number each year in grade school - just 1-25 or however many were in the class. They didn't have to put their name on their papers, just their numbers. Starting in middle school, they had to use their 6 digit random student number. Teachers posted grades on the wall by number, etc.

[Luvmy3kids]

My husband had a competition in Evanston, Il. He went to use the bathroom in one of the locker rooms and there was only a single toilet in the middle of the room!!! Nothing was around it.

 

I have nightmares about these things! Where is the dignity???

 

In Jr. High, we had to shower and show the teacher that we "got wet" while standing there with a towel the size of a hand towel you would have in your bathroom!

 

Two reasons I would never let my kids go to public school. Seems like prison to me!

[Murphy101]

In the k through 12 school my oldest sons went to for the 6 weeks I tolerated public school when they were in kindergarten and first grade, there were no doors on the stalls.

 

Yet again, I say jail house prisoners have more freedom than public school kids. No stall, but not all hanging out either. A private-ish corner pot per cell at least.

 

For those who don't have a problem with it, would you take the doors off your home bathrooms? What about at restaurants and the mall? (which I assure you get some gosh awful nasty happenings too)

 

And men usually use a stall to poo, so urinals don't mean a lack of privacy for them either.

[annandatje]

One of the reasons for the doorless stalls in schools is that kids swing on the doors and break them off their hinges.

[Lovedtodeath]

I have never had to use such a bathroom but I will admit I have recurring nightmares about it and have since I was a child. It's up there with getting on the school bus naked for me and having to take a final exam in a class I've never been to.

 

I don't think I've ever even seen such a bathroom except in a movie about prison (and in my nightmares).:confused:

 

And menses- no way could I handle that. I would have to stay home from school and I would allow my daughter to. If you have a heavy flow...well...that is just beyond anything that can be handled in a doorless stall (in my opinion of course).

She misses more than 10 days in the school year and CPS will send you a "nice" letter.:glare:

[HRAAB]

The schools I've been in around here all have doors. I cannot imagine as a young teenage girl using the toilet without a door. I cannot imagine changing pads or tampons with no door. Good grief. I felt the same about communal showers in high school. I refused! We got points everyday for taking a shower, so if you didn't shower, no extra points. The teacher would stand at the door to the shower, with a clear view, and mark down everyone who showered. I think I got a C in that class. You know what? It's my body, and no one has the right to force someone else into showing their body in a way that makes them uncomfortable!!!

 

I know many people are totally comfortable with it and can't imagine what the big deal is, but for those of us who feel it is a big deal, it's not comfortable. And there's nothing wrong with us who aren't comfortable with exposing our bodies. And I'm not exactly a prude by a long shot. There are some things I just prefer to do in private thank you very much.

 

eta: And with this being in a school bothers me even more. Restrooms in restaurants, malls, stores, etc. can be visited by choice - most of the time anyway. Students in schools don't have a choice. They have to be there everyday, usually around 7 to 8 hrs a day, with no option to use the toilet with the privacy of a door. Grrrrr.....

Edited September 18, 2010 by Ishki

[Luvmy3kids]

The schools I've been in around here all have doors. I cannot imagine as a young teenage girl using the toilet without a door. I cannot imagine changing pads or tampons with no door. Good grief. I felt the same about communal showers in high school. I refused! We got points everyday for taking a shower, so if you didn't shower, no extra points. The teacher would stand at the door to the shower, with a clear view, and mark down everyone who showered. I think I got a C in that class. You know what? It's my body, and no one has the right to force someone else into showing their body in a way that makes them uncomfortable!!!

 

I know many people are totally comfortable with it and can't imagine what the big deal is, but for those of us who feel it is a big deal, it's not comfortable. And there's nothing wrong with us who aren't comfortable with exposing our bodies. And I'm not exactly a prude by a long shot. There are some things I just prefer to do in private thank you very much.

 

eta: And with this being in a school bothers me even more. Restrooms in restaurants, malls, stores, etc. can be visited by choice - most of the time anyway. Students in schools don't have a choice. They have to be there everyday, usually around 7 to 8 hrs a day, with no option to use the toilet with the privacy of a door. Grrrrr.....

 

:iagree:

[Tap]

My stepkids had a number each year in grade school - just 1-25 or however many were in the class. They didn't have to put their name on their papers, just their numbers. Starting in middle school, they had to use their 6 digit random student number. Teachers posted grades on the wall by number, etc.

 

When I was in highschool (mid-late 80s) this was common. LOL Glad to know it wasn't just my teachers' ridiculous ideas! :tongue_smilie:

[LauraGB]

The teacher would stand at the door to the shower, with a clear view, and mark down everyone who showered. I think I got a C in that class.

 

I wonder if that's why I ran a straight D- in gym. I was one of the few who refused to shower (and, admittedly one of the few who didn't break a sweat, either). It was just a big overhead sprinkler - give me a break. They couldn't have dragged me into a group hosing.

[TrixieB]

In my elementary school's bathroom, two stalls had half-doors and the rest (20 or so) had no doors.

 

The new elementary schools here are built with a big sink in the hallway, and boys/girls bathroom entrances at the sides of the sink. I have no idea if the stalls have doors. I'll have to ask someone whose kids go to one of the new schools.

[Murphy101]

Yes. Another factor in the two times I got an F in PE.