Check in when you go to the nurse, check in when you arrive to school, check in when you go to ASYSST, and now… you have to check in when you have to use the bathroom?!

Here at EHS, the administrators have enforced new rules; these rules now require students to have their student identification badge handy to scan and enter the restroom. They claim this helps with making sure they can identify students in case any incidents involving the bathroom occur.

“Frankly, I think it’s awful. Do they expect us to pee on the floor if we don’t have our ID?” Julia, a Ewing High Senior said in response to learning about the new enforced rule. “I understand that they need to keep a record incase of an emergency, but how can they expect to limit our access to the bathroom; something we can’t completely control?”

Many students in Ewing High have shared this same concern, explaining that it wasn’t right to stop students from exercising their right to use the bathroom.

“Seriously though… Why would they think it is okay to stop us from using the bathroom when we have to, regardless of what other students are doing. There has to be a better solution!” Kat, another Ewing student, stated when we discussed the new rule. “It’s not fair for students who have lost their ID or don’t have money to purchase one, guess they have to break more rules to leave the school without permission to use the bathroom.”

To further my understanding on why the rule was put into place, I went to the administrator and principal of the school.

“Well the higher ups make those kinds of decisions for us. We can’t make decisions that involve safety without discussing it with the Board of Education.” The principal told me, “I understand the decision and reasoning behind the enforcement of the new rule. This could help us identify people in the event of an emergency in the bathroom.”

On the other hand, Miss Z, an Art teacher at Ewing High said that “the idea of digitally monitoring which students enter the bathroom gives us more insight incase of an emergency.”

“To be honest, I noticed an issue when a student expressed his concern over the idea of what happens when you forget your student ID. Initially all students were to login using ID’s but we quickly realized not all students carry their ID at all times. So, it was decided that students should tell the teachers on duty their student ID number, in order for their visit to be documented.” Mrs. Masterson, EHS English Department, said.

Now, a month after the enforcement of the rule, the Ewing High staff have implemented a secondary system to record people entering and exiting the bathroom through their student ID number. By giving their ID number to the person on hall duty at the time, they can bypass the requirement of having their physical student ID and use the bathroom. 

However, this system does require that the person who is working bathroom duty manually enter each student’s ID number into the system. While this did add to the time needed for a student to return to class, it lessens the responsibility on the student and takes away the ability for the school to remove their right to use the bathroom.