Every day students need to use the restroom but are held back by the fear of how many bathroom passes they have left to use. In some classes at DPHS teachers give you a certain amount of bathroom passes per semester. If you go over the limit you either lose your privilege to use the restroom, or you are required to go in during lunch to renew your passes.  Students should not have to stress about having to use the restroom during class.

Sophomore at Dos Pueblos Olivia Kazmerzak has had experience with the need to use the restroom but had a setback in that she had used her amount of bathroom passes for that semester. Last year in her freehand drawing class students were given a certain amount of passes per semester and, once they used them all before the start of a new semester, they would have to go in during lunch to renew their formally allotted amount. Kazmerzack was not thrilled with having to take time away from her friends during lunch in order to renew her privilege to use the restroom. The fact that this bathroom system has become more common with teachers throughout the school has become an issue. Students have lost their right to use the restroom.

Furthermore, student Sophia Campuzano (10) had a similar problem with bathroom passes. In one of her elective classes, she is given a small amount of bathroom passes per semester. Campuzano was concerned about going to the bathroom, not knowing how many bathroom passes she had left. The uncertainty of how many more opportunities students have left to use the restroom has left them frustrated. Students like Kazmerzak and Campuzano shouldn’t have to wait to simply use the restroom. They should be allowed to go as they need.

Moreover, there most likely is a reason for certain teachers to enforce these bathroom policies. For example, some students take advantage of using the restroom to walk around campus and take a long time to return to class. This prevents students who truly need to use the restroom from being able to go. Adding on, students who repeatedly leave class to use the restroom day after day lose work time in class. There is also the factor that students should have gone before class. Although these are important points, that doesn’t diminish the matter at hand. Students have lost their right to use the restroom because of a small portion of students who chose to take advantage of using the restroom.

Araceli Rodriguez (10) dealt with a harsher bathroom system in one of her former classes. She was given two tickets at the beginning of the year. Throughout the year they would play games in order to earn more tickets. But, there was a catch. Any leftover tickets could be turned into extra credit. Therefore, Rodriguez felt guilty using the restroom. Students shouldn’t be rewarded for not going to the bathroom. This system rewards unhealthy behavior. Those who are on their periods might need to use the restroom more than the time they have outside of class. Unfortunately, teachers have no way of knowing which students truly need to use the restroom. Therefore, they are left to wait.

Think about the students every day who have to wait up to an hour and a half to use the restroom simply because they ran out of a pass that determines their right to use the restroom. These bathroom policies are unfair and, although aren’t talked about much among the students, they should be addressed and resolved. We need to refrain from these harsh bathroom policies and think of a better way to structure them or get rid of them altogether.