High School Removes The Doors Of Restroom: Here’s Why

A school has decided to remove the outer doors to the student restrooms. Obviously, most of the kids in the school are pretty unhappy with the decision.

Why They Removed The Doors: The Oak Park and River Forest High School in Chicago says that the removal of the doors on restrooms is an effort to prevent kids from misbehaving. They believe that, by taking the doors off, kids will be less likely to use the bathrooms as hidden naughty spaces.

By taking the doors off, they think they will stop kids from fighting, vaping, and misbehaving in the restroom. Because of child safety regulations, they are one of the only places teachers shouldn’t be going. So, they have always been a spot to get up to no good for students.

• “The decision to remove the exterior doors of most bathrooms at the school was based on an evidence-based practice in architecture called crime prevention through environmental design or CPTED,” the school board said in a statement. “One of the most frequent complaints that we received last year from parents, faculty, staff, and students was about inappropriate activities taking place in the bathrooms, such as vaping, skipping class, fighting, and so forth.”

Kids Kick Back Against Restroom Doors Decision

Why kids are upset: I understand the desire of teachers to prevent kids from finding a place to misbehave, but the kids don’t appreciate this drastic measure. They feel that it is an unnecessary invasion of privacy and even a security hazard. Although the view of the urinals and stalls is obscured, it still feels like an unwelcome change.

“I think that they could have done things like vape detectors or smoke detectors, because those do exist,” one student suggested as an alternative. They went on to highlight the necessary safety features of restroom doors in a US school.

• If you’re in the bathroom, you have to hide in the bathroom from like a school shooter or something,” they said. “If there are no doors in the bathroom, that’s another risk.”

So, they have signed a petition to open up a discourse with the school about the removal of the restroom doors. If it reaches 500 signatures, the student hopes to have a conversation about the changes made.