'This is too far': Uproar as school gets rid of toilet doors to make ‘non-gendered bathrooms'
Parents are outraged after a high school decided to remove toilet doors in a bid to create "non-gendered" bathrooms and thereby, "ease anxiety" among students.
The Golden Grove High School in Adelaide, Australia, sent a letter to parents informing them of the changes to the facilities. The school reportedly got rid of the outer doors of the bathrooms to ensure "greater safety" for students using the stalls. The revamp, however, has caused a stir among parents. Pictures revealed how the bathrooms had their outer doors removed, but still had "boys only" and "girls only" signs above the entrances.
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School officials said that the doors were removed so the old bathrooms would match the new "non-gendered" facilities. "The health, safety, and wellbeing of all young people is important to us," the letter from Principal Peter Kuss began. "We understand that accessing toilet facilities whilst at school can cause anxiety for some students. The guidelines for the provision of student toilets have evolved over time," it further read.
Kuss explained the toilets would now be more accessible to all students as they align with the new standards and renovation that is part of a $15 million redevelopment project. "This included providing lockable, non-gendered, individual cubicles, with handwashing included inside the cubicle, accessed directly from common spaces or open corridors," he explained, adding that the secondary school is "taking the steps to modify the design of the existing toilet blocks so they mimic as much as possible the look and feel of the toilet facilities in the new buildings". The outer doors leading to the bathrooms have thus been removed in the hopes that they will "provide greater safety for student usage" and "closely align" the existing facilities with new standards.
However, the news did not go down well with some parents. One concerned mother said that her wards "no longer feel safe and feel their privacy has been compromised." She added, "The cubicles on some of the toilets can be seen by students and teachers walking past. I've had other parents tell me their kids will not use the toilets either." Another parent said their child has stopped using the bathrooms and claimed that pupils already "hold off going to the toilet all day." They explained, “When kids already hold off going to the toilet all day. My son goes here and doesn’t use the toilets. I’m guessing this is the school’s way of combating their fight against vaping in the toilets at the health of those who don’t and are too afraid to use the toilets."
“Umm I’m all for gender equality but this is too far,” someone else offered, while another parent said the move would be a deal-breaker for them if their ward attended that school. “Would pull my child out of there… that’s wrong. I agree with gender-neutral bathrooms, however, kids also have a right to feel safe in a gendered bathroom,” they wrote. “Build another toilet for the non-gendered, simple as that,” another suggested.
However, an Education Department spokesperson told The Advertiser that the school's toilets are still adequately private. "Students' privacy isn't compromised," they said in a statement. "All the cubicles have lockable doors and only hand washing areas are visible from hallways or foyers." The spokesperson also confirmed that doors had been removed from eight older facilities.