Since the beginning of the school year, campus safety supervisors have begun standing outside many, but not all, restrooms during break and lunch to control the flow of students entering. This change prevents group gathering and long lines at the stalls. Restroom monitors are a necessity for all restrooms across campus during break and lunch.
In previous years when restrooms weren’t supervised, groups of students would often congregate near stalls to chat or vape. Unfortunately, these large gatherings still occur, mainly during passing periods, when restrooms are used the most and moni- tors aren’t near the restrooms. There are often many people chatting and walking around aimlessly in the restrooms.
These large group gatherings can quickly cause discomfort to those trying to use the restroom. When I’m using the toilet, I don’t want to worry about other students peeking into my stall or slipping some- thing underneath the door.
These groups also reduce the amount of space in re- strooms. They may block access to stalls, sinks, and hand-drying stations. Some- times, rowdy students may even damage sinks, toilets, and other restroom facilities.
I’ve seen students throw- ing rolls of toilet paper over stalls, and shoving it into sinks and toilets.
A similar situation occurs when all stalls in a restroom are in-use, and so students start lining up to enter. These lines can easily become disorderly with more students walking into the restroom. Since it’s not certain that every student will line up to use the stalls; they may cut in line. In some instances, lines can block people from exiting their stalls while making the person inside feel rushed to finish their stay. Long lines also con- tribute to the problem of loud sounds in restrooms, as the more students, the more conversations go on.
Likewise, overcrowded restrooms tend to be loud and chaotic. In my personal experience, I’ve seen people shake entire stalls and disrupt the peace of people using those stalls. Restroom monitors are a solution for all these issues, since they can put more priority on monitoring the usual perpetrators.
Overall, the addition of restroom monitors is a positive change for all restrooms across campus. It’s great that students now have more accessibility and