Yeovil school 'excludes four kids' over protest against unacceptable cameras in unisex toilets

[EweSurname]

www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/yeovil-school-excludes-four-kids-2676128

Another parent got in touch with Somerset Live previously to say pupils are "getting mad and upset" due to the introduction of the mixed toilets.

The parent, who did not wish to be named, said: "Apparently the toilets contain all genders in one place, one marked male, one female and one male/female, all in together with no place for privacy.

"The girls are now worried about their safety and privacy, especially when on their periods when they will not even be able to request sanitary products from friends due to boys being in earshot.

"They are already get picked on by boys for their periods.

"There is also a security camera trained on the toilets now in the area of the cubicles and I have been told the locks on the cubicle doors are faulty."

@jellyfrizz i meant for using the same toilets. At my school, like the one in the article, there are options of mixed and single sex toilets. The reasoning for ours was to add an extra toilet facility and a small room - never heard any of the girls calling boys pervs about toilet use.
Happydappy they do provide both

Why are schools introducing mixed sex toilets? Why? There is not a single good reason to do this, except to tell girls they have no right to boundaries or privacy at a particularly difficult time of life, puberty. The law is quite clear that the school must provide single sex toilets: womansplaceuk.org/mixed-sex-toilets-ins-chools/

Local kids are really unhappy about this. Those posters saying that girls shouldn't care are wrong. They should and they do. And the 'good' girls too, not just the troublemakers

Sunkisses the school does - they just have one set of mixed toilets

Exactly sunkisses. Bloody hands are beside the point, and clearly a bit of a niche issue. I think it's self defeating to focus on something that SOUNDS unbelievable.
Girls and boys should have privacy from each other when in a vulnerable state, the end.

Use toilet tissue to wipe off any blood

Jesus, I can’t believe it feels necessary to ask, but you do know that blood is both liquid and kind of sticky, right? And that loo paper, by design, tends to break down pretty easily?

The article just leaves me with lots of questions.

Is it only the mixed sex toilets that are being vandalised?

If so, why do the pupils find the current situation offensive enough to target those toilets?

Why didn’t the school leave most of the toilets single sex and just place one or two single-room unisex toilets around the school?

It seems likely to me that if it is deliberate sabotage of those toilets, that pupils are expressing their anger. Is there a heavily pro-trans agenda in the school that is causing frustration? This potentially looks like backlash against a perceived inequality. Whatever is causing it needs to be addressed.

Why would anyone wish to remove the safety of a single sex space from young girls going through puberty?

Anyone got any answers?

In refugee camps the No 1 thing the women say they need is access to single sex toilets & washing facilities. Why in this country are we now taking that most basic right away?

Totally illogical, not best practice, children don't like it.

I don't think the girls care about the blood. They just don't want to be with boys.

Even if you got some blood on your hands wouldn't you wipe it off with loo paper
Often, mostly even, the pupils' toilets do not have toilet paper, to avoid children using that to block the toilets and cause a flood. Yes, I worked in the inner city.

In the two decades when I was teaching, there were countless occasions when boys tried to get into/get a look at girls using the toilet. They're little boys (mine were 11-16) and they like to be rude/sexy/porny whatever they think it is.

In my first year of teaching, my first 'big' incident was a gang rape. An actual gang rape. Boys had dragged a girl into the boys' toilets.

Also, I had heavy periods for nearly years of my life. Yes, often my hands, arms etc were covered in blood by the time everything was neatly changed and dealt with. I carried baby wipes and sealable plastic bags for used wipes at all times as an adult, and as a child I lived close to my school so I could get home to change. Young women should not be put through that at school. Privacy, dignity... where are those things for the young women of today?

PlasticPatty Oh that's awful for the victims and for you. Bloody hell, horrific. Your first year of teaching too....

It’s interesting how some posters here are clueless about safeguarding, it is never best practice to have staff share toilets with students, for obvious reasons
Yeah, they see that teachers sharing is a bad thing, but it's fine for a 17 yr old boy and a 11 yr old girl.

Going by high school ages here and it's a long time since mine were in school so possibly wrong, but the gist is right.

I don't think the girls care about the blood. They just don't want to be with boys.

Yup.

I don't think teachers and pupils should use the same toilets. Imagine the things that could be said?! Lots of the cubicles in girls' toiled in my school rarely have paper in it.
I have to request it as the cleaners seem to not bother replacing it.
Girls also vandalise their toilets 🚽 as well as boys.
I think that there should be plenty of both types of loos so the option is there but I would prefer single sex toilets over mixed sex ones if I had a choice.

I find the "I don't mind, therefore you shouldn't mind too" crowd remind me of the women who pinned down Suffragettes so men could force feed them, or the women who side with MRAs. Children absolutely hate mixed sex toilets - girls and boys. Why are they being forced on kids at school?I can't wait for this insane period of history to be over. Bring on the backlash against this weird "I'm so cool, look at me, with no boundaries" faux-feminism.

I would add my objection to the total stupidity of those who reject the idea that women/girls can get very bloody hands whilst changing tampons/mooncups. It usually happens to me once or twice a period, I can have sudden flooding when removing/inserting a tampon and there is nothing I can do about it. I am very thankful that at work there is a sink within the toilet cubicle. If there were communal sinks then I would need to take wet wipes to do a clear up before going to wash hands properly. I don't think girls at school should have to worry or stress about this, to worry about being teased or bullied by boys for being on their period. It's a hideous thought.

This school in Yeovil sounds like they have a whole host of issues going on as well as unsuitable toilets.

It's also not helpful to say there are other toilets in the school that are single sex. Children often don't have a huge amount of time to get to the loo, so have to use the toilets in the block they're in. Indeed they may not even be allowed into a different block, at different times.

I guess I am just not, after 30 years, able to manage my period perfectly so as not to get bloody hands, ever!

No, that's not the only reason mixed toilets should not be a thing, but it can be used as part of the argument. Dignity, safety, comfort. All are important, surely?

I guess I am just not, after 30 years, able to manage my period perfectly so as not to get bloody hands, ever!
I was gonna go with clumsy me, or damn those blood clots that just slip away from you.

well I have endo so the pain, the clots, the overflowing... gosh I am dumb for not managing.

It's not just about periods.
They want a bit of space away from the boys for a bit.
Introducing cameras is intrusive in my view.

The vandalism and graffiti will stop now and believe me that will be girls too.

don't think the girls care about the blood. They just don't want to be with boys

Entirely possible it's both. As an adult I don't feel comfortable for both reasons.

I appreciate that those of you with magic periods dont have this issue but it's 100% not "niche". Several people here have already said they deal with this.

Jessicawakefield I have PCOS I never really considered if the total rampaging MESSY periods I get were down to that. Endo/pcos and other "lady problems" might well be the reason.

Still, hardly niche though!

Not niche at all! You crack me up with your 'magic period' comment!! I needed a laugh! God I am tired, bloody early perimenopause BS.

When I was younger I regularly bled through my clothes it was so bad. I was always terrified to sit down on the train in case. How could I have possibly avoided messy hands!

Ive been lucky that pregnancy sorted out the worst of it for me. Not looking forward to menopause though. You kind of forget it's there on the horizon!