Locked bathrooms and no pass rules. These things were implemented as a way to keep students out of the hallways and in their classrooms, but is it as beneficial as it seems?

Why are bathrooms being locked?

Parkdale has had multiple instances where students have vandalized the bathrooms. “[There are] gang signs, we had some graffiti in the girls bathroom referring to another student,” said Ms. Brown, security personnel at parkdale. “You know the TikTok challenge with the toilet paper? That actually happened here on the first floor boys’ bathroom [and] the whole floor was covered.”

Our principal, Dr. Graves goes over the announcements nearly everyday to remind students not to hang out in the bathrooms and signs have been hung up on the doors telling students not to vandalize. Often times security will clock the bathrooms in order to keep these problems under control.

Should they be locked?

However, having the bathrooms locked all the time can put students at a disadvantage.

“It’s an inconvenience because sometimes you need to use [the bathroom]” says senior Joanna Ventura Gomez. “It’s really bad, when I go to the bathroom I have to walk all over the school to find one that’s open,” said an anonymous Parkdale student. “But you know there’s always a lot of people in them.”

For girls who are experiencing their periods, having a no pass rule can be problematic, and the breaks in between classes are far too short for students to get in and out of the bathrooms. “There have been several times when I had to use the bathroom, but the bathrooms were locked, or it was a “no hall pass” day. This has been very inconvenient for me, especially whenever I’m on my period,” said junior Katerin Machuca. “I have stained my pants before due to these circumstances. I know that they are doing these things to prevent people from skipping in the bathrooms, but it’s not benefiting the majority of the students.”

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the average person should use the bathroom somewhere between six and eight times within a 24 hour period. Keeping the bathrooms locked and preventing students from being able to go to the bathroom through no pass rules is detrimental and can result in accidents and bathrooms becoming overcrowded. It is hard for the average person to hold everything in over a 8 hour period, and trying to wait until the end of the day to go to the restroom can have a negative effect on your bladder and digestive system.

Rather than restricting students, an alternate solution could be to regulate how many people are in the bathroom at a time. Having all of the bathrooms open may also keep students from crowding in the same one all day.