Loo lockdown: Schools tackle vaping, skipping class

A controversial policy in which schools lock their bathrooms during class time has been successful in reducing vaping, students skipping class and general behavioural issues.

A controversial policy in which schools lock their bathrooms during class time has been successful in reducing vaping, students skipping class and general behavioural issues.

If students need to go to the toilet during class time they need permission from their teacher, then must go to the school office to log their toilet break and retrieve the key.

No students are denied access to the bathrooms.

There are also exceptions for students with medical issues who may need to go to the bathroom urgently.

The Courier-Mail is aware of at least four schools who have used the policy – Gold Coast co-educational Catholic school Aquinas College who started in 2021, Pimlico State High School in Townsville in 2022, Sunshine Beach State High School in Noosa in 2022, and Clontarf Beach State School in October.

In a recent update via newsletter, Clontarf Beach principal Jo House said the change had had a positive effect and aimed to teach students to self-regulate and be organised.

“I could no longer ignore the constant disruption to class time and the missed learning time by groups of students who regularly ‘hang out’ in the toilets during class time,” she wrote.

“The additional step implemented on October 23 to manage students being out of class was that students who required to use the toilet during class time had to access the key from the office and then use the toilet blocks in A Block closest to the main administration building.

“The longest period of time a student is in class without a designated break is from 8.20am to 9.40am – 80 minutes.

“Currently students have a 50 minute Lunch 1 break (10.50am to 11.40am) and then a 25 minute Lunch 2 break (12.50pm to 1.15pm).

“I can report this procedure (has seen) a reduced number of students leaving classes and missing out on learning time, and a reduction in students asking to leave because they are bored or who had already agreed to meet with their friends to waste learning time.

“Furthermore, there has been a reduction in unsupervised students around the school.”

In a separate statement regarding Clontarf Beach State School, a Department of Education spokesman said any students with a documented health issue could access different toilets without having to go through the newly introduced procedure.

Several Queensland schools are locking toilets during class.

“The school’s (Clontarf Beach’s) records indicate the majority of students receive a key immediately and about 10 per cent within one to two minutes,” the spokesman said.

“There has been a significant decrease in the number of students out of class and total time missed, therefore maximising learning time across the school. Incidents of vandalism and misbehaviour during class time have also seen significant decreases.”

Queensland Secondary Principals Association president Mark Breckenridge said a similar policy was used in schools he previously worked in to address students smoking cigarettes.

“The key things in the implementation of something like this are understanding what the problem is and having a look at a range of strategies to address it, of which this might be one strategy,” he said.

“There must be a significant amount of parent communication to ensure you have community understanding of the approach, and a view to reviewing it after a period of time to make sure it is working.”

Mr Breckenridge said his own experience and feedback from schools had all been positive, with exceptions built in for students with medical issues, such as personal access keys.

Teachers’ Professional Association of Queensland president Scott Stanford echoed this.

“It shows drastically reduced absenteeism in class because the students don’t have anywhere to hide or congregate so they’re visible and told to go to class,” he said.

“But we’ve got to make sure parents and staff are going through this together, we can’t have a blanket policy because there are always going to be students who have exceptions.

“For example, one child at Clontarf Beach who has a (medical) issue, they actually have their own bathroom key.

“As it becomes a success I think you will find more and more schools will get onto it, but it’s going to be a case-by-case basis.”

Among the initial concerns raised by some Clontarf Beach parents last month was that the new policy potentially breached students’ rights.

A Queensland Human Rights Commission spokeswoman said a policy of this kind can be justified if it is in the interests of all students at a school, but it must include exceptions.

“Like all human rights in the Act, students’ rights can be limited if there are justifications in the interests of the whole student population – for example if there is evidence that bathrooms are being used to vape, skip class or engage in other unhealthy behaviours,” she said.

“Schools have to balance all of these competing issues. Schools should only resort to this option if they can’t find any less restrictive ways to deal with these behaviours.

“If there are no exceptions allowed, locking toilets could be indirect discrimination, because this disproportionately impacts those students who may need to use the facilities more than others, such as students who menstruate or who experience bowel and bladder conditions.”