By: Julia Xia, Features Editor
In October of this year, students at Mills discovered that all the gendered restroom doors were propped open with a wooden door stop. This action, taken by the administration, caused mass confusion among students as no one knew exactly why this had happened.
Before this new policy, students and faculty had reported multiple instances where the bathrooms weren’t being used as intended; instead students were going there to vape or skip class. Activities which Dean Christian described as “holding office hours.” This led to the administration’s decision to permanently keep the bathroom doors open. A decision, they explained, which was inspired by other schools in the district that have also propped their doors open due to similar issues.
However, after only a few days of this new policy, many students reported feeling frustrated and annoyed about the change. One of the main concerns students share is privacy. Since the bathroom doors are kept open all the time, many students hesitate to use them; uncomfortable with the idea of the door being open. “The doors are right where the mirrors and some stalls are as well. I don’t feel comfortable knowing that at any moment someone could see me, just, inside… ” One junior commented.
Not only is the new policy a problem for students, Mills athletes have also experienced a lot of issues since the change. One athlete, Ameena Stringer (11), recounts her experiences with the bathrooms since soccer season began. “It’s a private place for students to use .” After school the girls soccer team will use the girls restrooms to change into their uniforms. “When the doors were closed, we could change in and out of the stalls without feeling uncomfortable,” Ameena comments, frustrated about the new policy. “But now we have to take turns using the stalls and it makes us late to practice.”
“I feel like the school is punishing people who didn’t even do anything wrong. I only go to the bathroom to use it, not anything else. So why am I being punished?”
One of the main issues in all of this, is the question “what is the primary function of a school bathroom”? For students, the bathroom is the only private place on campus where they can change into sports uniforms, fix their outfits in the mirror, or have a minute of privacy. With the door open for all to see, there are now no areas in school for students to have a place for themselves.
This is a sentiment shared by many students, and one which we brought up during our interview with the Dean. When asked for his response, he simply replied, “it’s a negative drawback.”
The Dean’s belief is that high school is fundamentally not a private place. Much like how McDonald’s designs their restaurants in a way that discourages customers from staying in the restaurant for long periods of time, Dean Christain believes the open door serves the same function.
Speaking to the same issue, VP Eric Ding explains that, “propping the bathroom doors open allows our security staff to quickly check and sweep the bathrooms for illegal, inappropriate, and unsafe behavior.”
The new bathroom policy is inline with the administration’s constant reliance on collective punishment. Instead of punishing small groups causing the issues, the school reprimands the majority. When Amelia Naughten, news editor, voiced her doubts on the effectiveness of punishing the collective, stating, “addressing the problem by punishing the entire school is not effectively getting to the root, ” the dean responded with “sucks.”
Even with all the concerns the student body shares, the Dean believes that the decision to prop the bathrooms open has stopped students from being caught vaping at school. He concludes, “Even though it doesn’t feel good and it aint right, it’s better than it was.”
Lastly, Dean Christian would appreciate it if any of the student body has come up with their own solutions to the bathroom situation.
