We’re furious after our kids’ school removed its TOILET DOORS – students don’t feel safe and have no privacy
PARENTS are fuming over a school’s “concerning” decision to remove its toilet doors.
Mums and dads say their kids now have next to no privacy and no longer feel safe using the bathrooms between lessons.
Students at Parrenthorn High in Prestwich, Bury, Greater Manchester, returned for the start of a new academic year on Monday to discover the doors to two toilet areas had been taken off over the summer.
The school says the move – announced during morning assembly – was taken to keep students as “safe as possible”.
But parents are furious, particularly amid concerns about bullying.
Although it’s the main doors to the toilets that have been removed – not those to individual cubicles – they are also fearful it will mean less privacy for students.
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Farah Sohail, 50, who has a 14-year-old daughter at the school, said: “It’s something that concerns me.
“My daughter told me about the doors being removed and now she doesn’t want to use the toilet.
“She doesn’t feel safe in there because there’s a lack of privacy.”
Masarat Nazir, whose son, 13, attends Parrenthorn High, believes it isn’t just an issue for girls because “boys can be shy too”.
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She added: “I don’t see how it will stop bullying. The bullies will just bully somewhere else.
“So I completely disagree with the school’s decision and I am going to ask my son how he feels.”
Gabor Olak, 53, who was “unaware” of the decision, is also concerned how his 12-year-old daughter feels now the entrance to the toilets is open.
“It’s not right,” he said.
“If my daughter is using the mirror to comb her hair or that type of thing, she doesn’t want someone staring into the toilet, especially at her age.”
And 40-year-old Sadaf Nisa, whose son, 15, and daughter, 14, both attend the school, agreed it was the “wrong solution” to bullying.
“It’s a bad idea,” she said.
“Girls in particular like to go into the toilets when they want time to themselves, and I don’t feel it will do anything to tackle bullying.”
My daughter doesn’t feel safe in there because there’s a lack of privacy.
Farah Sohail
But not all parents disagreed with the school’s move, believing it may help discourage bad behaviour.
Zahir Idris, 35, said: “I don’t mind because there’s always trouble in the toilets.
“There’s a lot of vaping that goes on in there.
“If students need privacy they can still go into one of the cubicles.”
Another man, who didn’t wish to be named, said he wasn’t bothered either way and believed teachers treated pupils’ welfare as a priority.
Headteacher Chris Bell said the two sets of toilets had been opened up in line with guidance for schools and other public buildings and doing so did not “infringe anyone’s privacy”.
He added: “Over the summer, we carried out a renovation programme in some areas of the school, including opening the entrance to the toilet areas on two corridors.
“Let me be quite clear – all pupils will continue to have privacy while using the toilets.
“Only the outer doors have been removed, not the cubicle doors, and there are screens in the boys’ toilets so that the urinals are not visible from the corridor.
“At Parrenthorn, we take our safeguarding duties seriously and the safety and wellbeing of all pupils is paramount. This adaptation does not compromise either.
“These changes are in line with standard practice in new build schools and many public buildings.
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“Guidance states that toilet blocks must be easy to access for students and allow for passive supervision by staff during break and lunchtime.
“This is to ensure that they remain safe and accessible places, whilst not infringing on anyone’s privacy.”