Gender neutral toilets in Primary School

[Nanodust]

So a recent visit to a new school that has opened also included confirmation that it will be the last Primary School to have gender segregated toilets.

All new Primary schools in the area will be ‘unisex’ (gender neutral) as described by Head.

Thoughts on this? I’m not against gender neutral toilets, I am indifferent as a toilet is a toilet. However for younger kids it’s sometimes the only place to get some headspace etc. I wonder how it will all go....

Again yes and no. Not going to be suitable in all situations and I don't want to derail the OP

I think all toilets should be small private rooms with a seat and sink.

GN toilets are so much safer for girls right now given the current trend for boys and men insisting on access to girls/women's enclosed private spaces.

So I'm all for individual GN toilets and change rooms etc.

I think the time will come but not yet.

I hope to see this future when no man would ever assault a vulnerable woman in hospital. Not holding my breath though.

In primary year 5 and 6 would use the toilets to change for pe. So to not have the boys see us in underwear.

Also, the fact that TRAs are NOT campaigning for individual GN toilets, and are instead are insisting that they NEED to "pee with" women and girls, is a damn good reason for anyone who is concerned about girls safety and dignity to support individual gn loos.....

If you're going to compare like for like, comparing gender neutral toilets which are all individual cubicles is like comparing with a hospital ward of private rooms. Those are often mixed.

Gender neutral toilets are similar to mixed wards of private rooms. Neither are an issue.

The foundation building at my daughter's school is a new build and has mixes toilets. They're all open to - not the actual cubicals but the stalls aren't that high. It's good for the little ones I think. As they get older I think they need separate toilets but at infant school age I think segregating is unnecessary.

In my work all our loos are segregated by sex with rows of floor to ceiling walled cubicles in each one with a line of sinks and mirrors outside . I know many a colleague that has been thankful to escape to the loo for breathing space, colleague to offer a tampon when the machine is empty, . I felt the same when I was at school. Keep loos segregated by sex but with an additional non sexed loo to assist families etc

@AssassinatedBeauty

I'm struggling to find anything anything about the impact on mixed sex wards on sexual assault beyond mental health (which is as much about how we deal with some of our most vulnerable and troubled individuals as it is about gender).

Much of the difficulties that are stated in literature on mixed sex wards are about dignity in finding yourself in a state of semi undress or actually straight privacy issues. www.evidence.nhs.uk/Search?ps=50&q , much of this is patient reported and says a lot about how we as a society treat gender (or sex however you prefer to term it). Whose to say that over time how society views this won't change.

First step is gender neutral toilets.

Boys toilets stink.

From my experience helping in key stage one, the boys toilet will smell of wee and generally have wee round the toilet and in the floor. The girls sit down so the toilet will be clean. Why should the girls share with the boys when they are going to end up wet every time they sit on the seat? Yuck.

We have unisex toilets at work. No issues at all.

My kids school has seperate toilets. Personally I wouldn't use a unisex toilet as I wouldn't feel comfortable so I don't see why kids should have to. Lucky we don't have that trouble at their school.

slippermaiden exactly.

My experience of working in a primary school is that boys will aim "near" the toilet. If they hit the seat then that's almost a direct hit, half of it will end up on the floor.

Horrible for the girls who have to sit on the seat, getting their legs and clothes covered in urine.

The answer there is to insist that the boys sit down and tuck to pee.
After all, it's the least they can do to accommodate the issue. Compared with the adaptations we're being asked to make, it's nothing.

Call me old fashioned, I don’t care! I think they should be separate.
All this gender neutral crap is going too far!

colleague to offer a tampon when the machine is empty can this not happen if a man is present?

Funny how those with unisex toilets don't find a difference between the mess left by boys and girls. Maybe by having the same expectations of both (the toilets are left tidy) we raise expectations for both, and we stop seeing one sex as being more or less capable

We shared toilets all through my primary school ... they weren’t gender neutral they were just for everyone

I think it's five for younger children but once girls start getting periods (it's not uncommon to get one in the year group who starts at 10) then it can become a problem. Also a bit weird and pointless.

Also boys really aren't that messy surely? My three year old can see standing up without making a mess.

They should be separate.

7,866 recorded sexual assaults in schools in 2016 - 17, children as young as 5 being excluded. Its not being dealt with.
www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/09/child-on-child-sexual-assaults-soar-police-figures-reveal

No one used them for headspace, the children are only allowed to go in when they need to use the toilets or sinks.

I strongly suspect you a wrong about that.

Lots of children with anxiety/ASD use the school toilets to get some respite from the busy classroom or playground. Being in school can be exhausting and the toilet can be the only place to get a break. It isn't great but it's better than nothing which is often what is available otherwise.

Toilets are separated by sex not by the philosophical idea of gender, there is no need to change them. Further provision of gender neutral facilities to suit families and for those not happy to use their own sex facility can only be a good thing.