To fight vandalism and vaping, a Sackville school has taken down restroom doors

Key takeaways:

• A high school in southern New Brunswick has developed a contentious method to combat vaping and graffiti in restrooms.
• The ninth-grader is now undecided about returning to school due to the pain she would experience in the restrooms.

To fight vaping and vandalism in washrooms, a high school in southern New Brunswick has come up with a controversial solution: removing the doors.

Tantramar Regional High School in Sackville has removed the entry doors to the school’s washrooms, exposing washroom stalls and urinals to the public.

Parents have expressed their displeasure with the move on social media, expressing concerns about student privacy.

Cheryl Colbert-Quintal, who has a kid at the school, stated, “My daughter reached me Tuesday morning.” “When they arrived this morning, the doors had been removed without warning to the children.”

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Tantramar’s principal was unavailable for an interview when CBC News reached out to her. However, Stephanie Patterson, the communications director for the Anglophone East School District, stated email.

“The doors to the entrance to the TRHS multi-stall washrooms have been removed due to ongoing and previously addressed significant vandalism (damage to/removal of soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, and toilet paper holders, as well as stolen items) and illicit behaviour (vaping),” Patterson said.

Patterson stated that the school and district are open to new ideas.

Madyson Colbert, Colbert-daughter, Quintal’s went to the principal’s office on Tuesday with a group of children to inquire about the doors being removed.

Colbert stated, “I told [the principal] that was an invasion of privacy.”

According to her, the confrontation escalated, resulting in the suspension of some of the students, including Colbert.

The pupils left school to make posters and then returned to protest. Finally, according to Colbert, the school called the cops because the students were breaking their school suspension on school grounds.

The ninth-grader is now undecided about returning to school due to the pain she would experience in the restrooms. In addition, she is disturbed by the concept of teachers gazing directly into the restrooms.

“Where will I go if I need to use the restroom?” Colbert remarked.

Identifying and resolving issues with school restroom delinquency

Tantramar isn’t the first school in Canada to remove washroom doors to reduce antisocial behaviour.

To prevent kids from vaping and smoking in restrooms, an Ottawa high school made the same move.

Colbert said she’s heard reports of damage in males’ restrooms and seen pupils vaping in restrooms.

Other options for dealing with these difficulties, according to Colbert-Quintal, include having hall monitors do toilet checks or issuing washroom passes.

The school, according to her kid, does not have any hall monitors.

“Until today, [parents] had no idea this was such a big deal,” the mother explained. “We would have given them suggestions if they had approached us.”

Source: CBC News

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