I saw this by chance

[agestagerage]

https://weareluna.app/questions/periods-and-hormones/hi-my-school-has-an-open-room-toilet-that-you-jus/

I was looking at an app for teens for my DS and stumbled on this anonymous question.

I’m not sure the answer is fair, any thoughts?

Wtf

Is this uk?

I’m not sure. I literally just went on to check the app out because it was recommended for teen friendship advice. This was on the scroll at the beginning.

Let me dig further.

I think it is because some of the experts seem to working for the NHS

Hi, my school has an open room toilet that you just walk in to and it has no door and we have to share it with the boys. There is a few cubicles for girls and a few for boys but this makes me feel really uncomfortable because if I want to change my pad or something I’m always worried that a boy is in the cubicle next to me and I find that embarrassing. Also it’s hard because people just stand in there and chat so I don’t like going to the toilet when that happens either. Thanks!
Periods & hormones
Heyy – there’s absolutely no shame in having your period and changing your products in the bathroom 🙅‍♀️ so don’t worry about the rustling sound that comes with opening a tampon or a pad ✨
However, if you want to, you can cough over the noise, or unwrap it at the same time as flushing the toilet to mask the sound – although this is totally not necessary and only if you are very uncomfortable 🌻
If you feel very uncomfortable still, please talk to a teacher or school counsellor about how the current setup makes you feel. They might be able to suggest a solution or provide a more private space for you.
Hope this helps!
How we answered this question:
luna's team of experts comprises GPs, Dermatologists, Safeguarding Leads and Junior Doctors as well as Medical Students with specialised interests in paediatric care, mental health and gynaecology. Questions are answered and reviewed by this team.

That is RIDICULOUS!
"You can cough" to hide the noise?
Wtf?
When I was 11/12/13 at school, woe betide any boy coming within a mile of me when I was doing that!

This is what their "team of experts" came up with? Coughing?
The mind boggles. 🙄
And "a more private space" a broom cupboard maybe? Perhaps she can go in the teacher's lounge.
Or... How about - oh I dunno - a SINGLE SEX LOO which, I understand is mandated by law in schools anyway.

"If you feel very uncomfortable still, please talk to a teacher or school counsellor about how the current setup makes you feel. They might be able to suggest a solution or provide a more private space for you"

What like a single sex facility?

Not the point but why are they writing it "heyy"? Is spelling now not a thing?

Can anyone see a date on the question?

Another one!

Hi luna 🫶, I think the toilets at my school are not private enough at all! I always feel uncomfortable at school going to the toilet or changing a pad as the boys toilets are right infront of the girls. They can hear everything and I don’t like it!!! And the only thing separating us are the toilet doors and the sink what should I do???
Periods & hormones
Heyy – there’s absolutely no shame in having your period and changing your products in the bathroom 🙅‍♀️ so don’t worry about the rustling sound that comes with opening a tampon or a pad ✨
However, if you want to, you can cough over the noise, or unwrap it at the same time as flushing the toilet to mask the sound – although this is totally not necessary and only if you are very uncomfortable 🌻
Hope this helps!

What terrible advice.

And of course there should be no shame in having periods or dealing with them, but there is certainly embarrassment, and we shouldn't allow boys within a mile of girls having to deal with their periods. Coughing to cover the noise? Like anyone would be fooled by that.

I hope this wasn't written by women.

Is it legal for school toilets to be configured like this?

Haven’t schools just been told they have to provide single sex facilities for children?

Several Scottish schools that only had gender-neutral (i.e. mixed-sex) toilets have just been told to provide single-sex ones. So obviously, whether scrapping single-sex toilets was legal or not previously, some schools went ahead and did it anyway.

It might be something like these unisex set ups - recent photos taken from British schools.

There was a comprehensive school in Cowbridge that had toilets like this, they were horrible, if you walked down the school corridor you come across an opening, you couldn't even call it a room. It was wide open there were cubicles down both sides and a row of sinks down the middle. There was no privacy, no respect for the children who had to use these facilities, it was some years back, so I don't know where they still have them, but it was so bad I'd like to think they changed them now.

The school I worked in also had toilets like this. The kids mostly used them for hand washing or to check their hair. They didn’t use the actual cubicles.

Are senior school’s allowed only unisex toilets?

Schools have different regulations to public buildings. There are exemptions in building regulations for educational establishments.

You would have thought not. However, on the specific school brief it appears so.

Certainly it has been advertised on manufacturers websites as ‘inclusive’.

This is directly from the Department of Education’s School-specific Brief (SSB) (2023) which sets out the School-specific requirements for sits alongside the
Generic Design Brief (GDB) including associated Technical Annexes.
This publication is for technical professionals
involved in the design and construction of school premises. It takes the school through RIBA parts1-4 to the Part C of
the Employer’s Requirements.
In the School-specific brief: mainstream schools 2023 Toilets and Personal Care section the drafting notes include:
In Secondary Schools:
· Whether the school requires single sex or unisex toilets.
· Whether hand-washing areas in toilets should be open on to the circulation space or enclosed by means of a door.
· Whether the school has a specific requirement (with justifiable reasons) to not have the standard floor to ceiling
cubicle systems. Generally:
· Any differentiation between toilet facilities for different age or gender groups?
· What is the School’s ethos on supervision/privacy e.g., preference for open plan hand washing areas? Privacy for
accessing sanitary products?

Have these people giving advice never met a teenage boy?

I think this is the legislation relating to toilets in schools.

The School Premises (England) Regulations 2012

Separate toilet facilities for boys and girls aged 8 years or over must be provided except where the toilet facility is provided in a room that can be secured from the inside and that is intended for use by one pupil at a time.

This is for England. This earlier legislation which also mandates separate toilets for boys and girls over the age of 8 may still apply to the rest of the UK.

The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999

Edited to add that in Wales all the guidance seems to refer back to the 1999 legislation. I don't know about Scotland and NI.

I asked for risk assessments and equality and impact assessments from the Department of Education (for the fact the standard cubicle designs are all full height floor to ceiling, even single sex).
They said they don’t hold them.
I asked who does because of the design dangers to girls and children with invisible disabilities such as diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions. And medical emergencies.
They said schools have to conform to 1974 Health and Safety legislation.
I raised a complaint.
They said there’s a EHRC consultation….

For over 10 years now, the building of new state schools has been funded by the EFSA. There has been a strong trend towards building them with unisex loos. This has been motivated by the trans agenda and a desire for the communal areas (basins, mirrors etc) to be visible from corridors to address bullying and safety concerns. It has astounded me that the DfE and EFSA have ignored the law about single sex toilets.

Every new school I have worked with has rapidly relabelled the loos so there are boys, girls and gender neutral loos. However, the SC ruling has highlighted the illegality of the gender neutral loos, as these are the same layout as all the others and not self contained units. It is going to cost a lot of money to sort the mess out!