Opinions differ on high school restroom policy

Glen Cove High School officials have instituted a new policy requiring that many of the school’s restrooms be locked between class periods and during the first and last 10 minutes of each 45-minute period. The only restrooms open all day are those near the cafeteria and in the nurse’s office.

Since the closures began earlier this school year, overcrowding and the use of vaping devices for smoking in the restrooms have decreased significantly, Principal Tony Santana reported at the Nov. 28 Board of Education meeting. He added that he had seen mostly positive reactions from students. When the Herald Gazette spoke to students about the policy, however, reactions were mixed.

Glory Mayreis, a 16-year-old senior, said she considered the new policy a positive step. She described vaping as a pervasive problem among teens everywhere. “People find a way to continue vaping, whether they’re doing it at school or somewhere else,” she said. “I’m not really one to judge other people’s lifestyle.”

Nonetheless, Mayreis said she was happy to see that restroom vaping had declined, adding that the new policy’s effectiveness in reducing overcrowding in the restrooms has been beneficial as well. “People aren’t in the bathrooms as often,” she said, “which is kind of nice, because when I go to the bathroom, I don’t have to wait for a mob to get out.”

But not everyone agreed. Two students who did not give their names said that the policy had had a negative effect on the school. One, a girl, said that limited bathroom access was frustrating when she was menstruating.

She added that she believed it was counterproductive to lock the restrooms during the first and last 10 minutes of class periods. “Since it’s [locked] . . . when there’s normally less instruction,” she said, “we have to go in the middle of class, when we could miss something huge. I know they want to limit [vaping] in the bathrooms, but it’s not worth that.”

Another student said he didn’t think the policy change would be effective, because it wouldn’t stop teens from vaping elsewhere. While vaping in the bathrooms has been cut down, he said, “People can still do it outside of school.”

And he agreed that the limited times during which the restrooms are open would create problems in classes, saying, “People wouldn’t want to go during the middle of the period, because you’re losing focus and information.”

“Personally, I don’t think it’s a big deal, because I don’t use the bathroom [too often],” he added, “but I understand why other people are mad.”

Santana could not be reached for comment by press time.

The use of e-cigarettes and vape pens — electronic devices that allow users to inhale vaporized nicotine — has grown into a problem affecting teens across the country. The devices can have strong negative effects, a 2016 surgeon general’s report concluded, stating that using nicotine by any method can harm a young person’s still-developing brain.

A January 2018 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concluded, “There is substantial evidence that e-cigarette use increases risk of ever using combustible tobacco cigarettes among youth and young adults.” And according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 27.4 percent of high school students in New York use e-cigarettes.