Are unisex toilets in schools a good idea?

A UK school is installing unisex loos in an effort to crack down on bullying, vandalism and smoking.

Teenage girls and boys will be able to mingle by the washbasins in the facilities currently being refurbished at Bramhall High School in Stockport.

The toilet will be supervised by a member of staff on duty outside in the corridor. Three sets of single-sex toilets will still be available elsewhere in the school.

Do you think communal conveniences could catch on in other schools? Is it wise to mix the sexes? If you're a teenager, would you mind sharing your loos with the opposite sex?

This debate is now closed. Your reaction:

The head teacher of Bramhall High School - which sparked the controversy - responds. Click here to read his comments

This is an appalling idea

Wendy, UK

This is an appalling idea. How about more luxurious 'rest rooms' for the better behaved of each sex?
Wendy, UK

Try unisex toilets in Parliament first.
Gerald Williams, UK

How ridiculous! When I was at school only 3 or 4 years ago, I would have absolutely detested this. Has anyone thought about the fact that teenage boys are very immature and, I have no doubt, would harass the girls endlessly?
Karen, England

After reading the head teacher's comments, I feel that single sex toilets are there to protect students who are afraid of going to toilets for reasons of being bullied or harassed. It's an attempt by the school to look into the needs of such students and should be encouraged.
Eric, UK

For heaven's sake - give it a try. With both alternatives available, nobody will be forced to use a facility with which they are uncomfortable. But I'm at a loss to understand why a mixed-sex toilet will stop people from smoking....
Mike Perry, UK

As a teenage boy, it is not a comfortable thing to go to the toilet to be confronted by a girl washing her hands. Yes, we do all use the same bathroom at home, but my sister is not using it at the same time as me. I always have the door locked. This option would cause many problems and misery if it became prevalent in other schools.
Daniel, UK

It's not a bad idea because when I was in my previous school they had unisex toilets.
Ludivine Boutefeu, Nivelles, Belgium

This needs to be put to rest immediately. It will only lead to more traumas during puberty and humiliation for those who are already bullied and weak etc. The feeble few will be in an even more vulnerable position as the bullies and aggressive kids peer over the cubicles and witness what should not be shared with anyone. The two sexes will egg each other on in embarrassing their victims and kids will carry these horrendous experiences around with them forever. Remember, things that seem like no big deal to adults remain painfully etched in children's hearts and minds forever more, never to be dealt with, causing eternal turmoil. NOT a good idea at ALL.
Elizabeth Coldwell, UK

I think unisex is no problem as boys and girls can be able to see each other as equal

Rebecker Waite, England

No problem with Unisex toilets. Boys don't need stand up urinal toilets. Just use normal toilet like they use at home. At home is always a unisex place so why not public toilets? Walls and doors joined from the ground to the ceiling can be made in order to further privacy. I think unisex is no problem as boys and girls can be able to see each other as equal.
Rebecker Waite, England

Dear Mr John Peckam, if you believe there is bullying going on in your school then you should crackdown on the bullies. This problem has nothing to do with toilets!
Charles

It seems everyone is missing the point that is, discipline begins at home. A child's behaviour is a direct reflection of their home life, and very little else. Co-ed toilets will be an added burden on already over burden and under paid teachers.
Joe, USA

NO - it is as bad an idea as male and females sharing the same hospital wards!
C Bowd, England

I feel this is thought out idea I have ever read of. I can't see it help solve bullying or vandalism in even the slightest way. Surely there can be no real advantages.
Laurie Neill, UK

This school obviously has a total lack of respect for its pupils.
Mandy, UK

This is another silly idea. I recall architects who built a post office with a unisex changing room in the 1960s. It was unacceptable, but that didn't occur to these geniuses. This idea is just plain daft. If they want to stop vandalism, why not have attendants in the toilets? And why not inspect properly and regularly and investigate properly.
Bob Harvey, Lincolnshire, UK

I don't think it is a very good idea as there are bounds to have differences between boys and girl¿ Could you imagine that someone could have peeping or staring at you in the toilet? It is not very convenient.
Wendy, Singapore

I think someone has been watching too much Ally McBeal.
Adam, UK

It would be a good idea if girls could learn to go to the toilet standing up and then it would be easier for the mixed toilet system to work!
Arvind Panessa, England

Will unisex toilets help men change their attitude towards women?

Albert P'Rayan, Rwanda

Will unisex toilets help men change their attitude towards women? Will it help men to treat women equally? It won't. Then what is the use of having unisex toilets? Don't we have anything worth to discuss? Teach boys to treat girls equally in schools. We can't stop gender discrimination by having unisex toilets.
Albert P'Rayan, Rwanda

Well, as a student I can say that a lot of young people my age are waiting for this kind of thing to happen! I think this idea will have no future. It has nothing to do with Christianity!
Alyosha, Russia

I think that toilets should be separate because girls and boys don't tend to like each other.
Dante Popple (age 7), UK

I was alarmed to read of unisex toilets. Girls and boys heading for or going through adolescence, girls starting periods, do NOT need the added stress of sharing toilets with other children of opposite sex. This is a gimmicky ploy to improve behaviour in loos, which I accept is sometimes terrible. A better answer is camera linked to staff room...or teacher (same sex) on duty INSIDE the toilets area. I am a teacher and a mother.
Kate Sedgwick, UK

I don't like the idea now, but I would have HATED it when I was a shy and self-conscious adolescent at secondary school.

Jane, Italy

I don't like the idea now, but I would have HATED it when I was a shy and self-conscious adolescent at secondary school. Perhaps the people who planned these shared loos have forgotten what it was like to be teenagers? I also strongly suspect that the idea didn't come from a female.
Jane, Italy

I ask the Head teacher of Bramhill High School. Do male and female teachers use share a Toilet?

Phil W, UK

I ask the Head teacher of Bramhill High School. Do male and female teachers use share a Toilet? Get real. It's an insult to everyone.
Phil W, UK

With the other traditional facilities on the school grounds...what is the point of this exercise? It seems on the surface to be an experiment in behavioural science with an attempt to change the behaviours of centuries of proper upbringing. Why is this the providence of a school? Shouldn't they be focused on educating in academics? Or is "potty" activities now an educational priority?
Phillip J Hubbell, USA

Apart from saving on money, vandalism and space I don't think there is much point for unisex toilets. In offices and adult institutions there might be a case but in schools I think it is a ludicrous idea. Teenagers at their stage of development shouldn't have to share their toilets with members of the opposite sex; if schools want to tackle the problems of disrespect in/of their communities then they should teach respect, not simply make the common problem areas smaller by merging them.
Benj'min Mossop, Britain

It's an obvious idea and it seems to me inertia is the only reason our culture has maintained segregated bathrooms for so long.
Toby Douglass, England

Boys stand up for your urinal!

Gerry Anstey, England

The girls have always been jealous of the the boys quick 'in and out' technique. How they fume when standing in the queue to sit down. This is merely an attempt by feminists to abolish the urinal so the boys have to queue too! What better place to start than schools. Once accepted it will be propagated to all areas. Boys stand up for your urinal!
Gerry Anstey, England

Does it seem to be a good idea, you ask? Having a girl and a boy in the same bathroom? There are some questions that need answers, but there are others which answer themselves. Just let go to your imagination; imagine what would happen, I can tell you very confidently that every boy and girl will get into a bathroom intentionally! Not to you know what, but to have a bit of that fun known to others as "SEX".
Moataz Abou-Eita, Cairo, Egypt

Firstly, teenage boys spend most of their lives trying to look up girls. Can you imagine the problems you're going to have with peeping toms? Secondly, we may do it at home but we go in one at a time and we are intimately related to those people. Finally, can you imagine how embarrassed you'll be when you come out of a stall after discharging the foul-smelling remains of last nights curry, only to be confronted by the lovely young lady who's eye you've been trying to catch for the last month!
B Thompson, UK

It's a bad idea. Not only in schools but also anywhere else

Divyesh, Tanzania

It is not a question to be asked. It's a bad idea. Not only in schools but also anywhere else including public utilities, health clubs etc. Both genders deserve their own privacy and self respect.
Divyesh, Tanzania

Unfortunately the head teacher does not take into consideration the different cultures and beliefs of pupils who would most certainly not go to shared toilets.
For Muslims, modesty holds a high value and would make it very uncomfortable for Muslim girls and boys, especially when they need to wash to pray.
Adam, UK, Guildford

Well, having experienced the introduction of the same situation in my college, I can tell one thing which is for sure to happen is that the bathrooms will stink more and be more dirty as the urine is spilled around when boys use the bathroom.
Sonali, USA

What's all the fuss about? The degree of fulmination and pontification I've read is staggering. Responses along the lines of "what a ridiculous idea" are totally unjustified. The system will not infringe on privacy (unless students are particularly self-conscious about washing their hands). And to those people suggesting a contravention of Health & Safety law: read the headmaster's letter! There are 8 single-sex facilities for boys and girls elsewhere in the school. I think the issue has been blown out of all proportion.
Richard, UK

The loos, especially the girls' loos, were a place of sanctuary from teachers and hormonal boys

Jeanne, UK

What a stupid idea. Has it been done anywhere else?! Why is it people with stupid ideas always get the go ahead and anyone with a bit of sense who tries to better the world gets in thrown back in their face!!
I would imagine the kids will be too embarrassed to step foot in those loos, I would have been. In my experience the loos, especially the girls' loos, were a place of sanctuary from teachers and hormonal boys. Now there's no escape but I think they'll soon realise that and scrap the whole thing.
Jeanne, UK

When I was a teenager I would have loved this. Knowing what I was like as a teenager I can say that this is NOT a good idea!
Simon, UK

We expect students to adjust to modern society - it even prepares them for a civil society

Ade Talabi, UK

The idea is not bad, as we expect students to adjust to modern society. The only time when it becomes questionable, is when there is any threat to a crime being committed. It is good idea, and we do not expect our students to be barbaric, it even prepares them for a civil society.
Ade Talabi, UK

At the end of the day, we all need to use a toilet, whether single sex or not. This school seems to have a lot of money to be able to arrange this and to pay for a teacher to monitor it. I have no doubts that some will find it suitable for "teenage behaviour" but then again you will always get this where ever you go. Has the school got this idea from Ally McBeal? Let's not forget they are adults, not teenagers with raging hormones!!
If this is introduced in public places then it could leave areas open for accusations for abuse. The list goes on, and I'm stopping as I feel I am turning into a politician and that would be the end of everything!
Aaron, Midlands - UK

So, the school is having to employ someone to monitor the toilets. How many books, or other resources directly related to education, would this buy?
Andrew J. Chisholm, UK

I can't imagine the girls wanting to use the toilets in which the boys have forgotten to lift the seat!

Kevin, UK

I would imagine that many teenage boys will be thrilled by the opportunity to share the facilities with girls they find attractive. However, I can't imagine the girls wanting to use the toilets in which the boys have forgotten to lift the seat!
Kevin, UK

What a crazy idea! The poor lads will never get a look in at the washbasins and the girls will be forever checking the cubicle walls for peepholes!
Mick, UK

British society is not used to public single sex toilets in the adult world let alone at school

Philip S. Hall, UK

Yet another crazy and pointless idea! British society is not used to public single sex toilets in the adult world let alone at school. I can see all manner of abuse going on in such places. No, forget it!
Philip S. Hall, UK

As an idea, it's right up there with soluble submarines, chocolate teapots and solar powered torches.
Ed Bayley, USA (English)

It's immoral, indecent and a bad idea and you know it!!!
Badow, Somalia

It's the separating of people which causes them to behave differently to each other. I like the idea of unisex bathrooms. Once it is commonplace, I'm sure the teacher on duty will no longer be required.
Lee Lussier, Canada

An absolutely ridiculous idea! Personally, I would feel very uncomfortable about using unisex toilets, and I imagine that women and teenagers would feel even more uncomfortable! Why can't we accept that men and women are different, and that there are times when it is perfectly natural to segregate them? Single-sex toilet facilities are only the latest example of the insidious creep of politically correct lunacy into our lives.
Jim Strang, Scotland

Don't be so disgusting! This isn't Ally McBeal, this is real life you silly billies!
Paul Nicholas Grubb, UK

Males and females have different plumbing. Why can't they be afforded different plumbing in the loo?
Kristian, Canada

Tell me about any other species on this planet that has separate loos.
Steve Nicholls, UK

I don't know how the school can afford to keep someone on permanent loo duty!

Pat Shepherd, UK

It will be interesting to see to what extent these facilities are taken up by each sex. As a school governor I don't know how the school can afford to keep someone on permanent loo duty! I tend to agree that our national obsession with keeping the sexes separate is unhealthy. Nevertheless I feel that separate facilities should be available at least while the scheme is tested.
Pat Shepherd, UK

Toilets for boys, toilets for girls, toilets for all...Who cares? Will it really make a difference? No. A few days to adjust and it will be a thing of the past.
Karl Lavoie, Canada

Rather than eliminate bullying, vandalism and smoking, the unisex bathroom will give the bullies a new set of targets and result in increased incidents of sexual harassment.
John McCartney, US

Undoubtedly girls and boys perform better academically in single sex schools. But since we have yet to see Toilet Use on the curriculum, there is no logical argument for separate sanitary facilities.
Matt, UK

Mixed bathrooms prevent anyone from making the embarrassing mistake of getting the wrong door

E. Kant, UK

Single bathrooms are a great leveller but come with obvious risks. A young girl who uses the mixed facility at a quiet time may encounter a group of intimidating lads who are there simply to smoke and loiter with intent. Subjecting the poor girl to the possibility of being physically or emotionally harassed is a risk the school takes.
On the other hand, small boys could be ridiculed by gangs of 'girl empowered' ladies and feel insecure about their masculinity. On the good side, mixed bathrooms prevent anyone from making the embarrassing mistake of getting the wrong door.
E. Kant, UK

It does seem a little strange to save money on washbasins and then spend it again on the member of staff having to stand outside: as though teachers don't have enough of their time wasted already!
Will, England

First class idea! After all we all use the same toilet at home. It's time the prudish British attitudes to our natural functions was ended, it's a sad hangover from the Victorian era. Also as girls are cleaner they will hopefully make the toilets a less smelly and messy place that the usual state of boys' toilets in schools.
Steve Foley, England

My school here in Australia has had unisex toilets for years, and they seem to work. The problems which our education system faces are far more fundamental (lack of books, low literacy rate, lack of motivation amongst students with little hope for the future). Perhaps the UK should be proud that they have a system so strong that this minor issue is causing so much fuss.
Steve Dooley, Australia

I'm sure that most of the young ladies in question will not be too pleased about boys hanging around

Dave Jones, UK

I asked around my office and we are all fairly ambivalent about this issue. I'm sure that most of the young ladies in question will not be too pleased about boys hanging around whilst they see to their personal business.
Dave Jones, UK

Now the boys will spend all of their time in the john looking at the girls.
Richard T. Ketchum, USA

This is not a good idea. It may also be a breach of health and safety legislation. Let the staff try out the idea first.
John, UK

The British attitude has always struck me as prudish and a waste of resources

Brian, UK

Having used unisex facilities for many years on French campsites, the British attitude has always struck me as prudish and a waste of resources.
Brian, UK

I suppose this assumes that only one sex smokes, vandalises and bullies. I wonder what effect this will have on the numbers of exhibitionists, voyeurs and gropers? Ludicrous, totally ludicrous.
Malc, Turkey

Toilets at home tend to be unisex. The only problem I can see with unisex toilets in public places is the male urinal, and having to omit that from future toilet designs hardly seems a great loss.
They're only sharing washbasins after all - two people aren't intended to share a toilet simultaneously.
Craig Graham, UK

How can any sane-minded person ask our children of this age to share the loos with the opposite sex?

Deborah Chan, UK

NO! For God's sake! Puberty, the time when children start metamorphosis, and become curious of the opposite sex, happens in the teens. How can any sane-minded person ask our children of this age to share the loos with the opposite sex?
The bathroom at home is different, because we go in one at a time. My experience in Paris has left me with very bad impression on the so-called "the most romantic city in the world". I think it's uncivilised.
Deborah Chan, UK

Loo sharing between sexes is not a good idea, quite apart from the fact that it is not in compliance with Health and Safety Regulations, where it clearly states that separate and adequate toilet facilities must be provided by the employer.
The question now is: Are schools covered under this law?
Roger Ferreira, UK

It's these kind of movements towards a more permissive society that is causing so many teenage pregnancies these days. If children aren't taught any morality and decency in schools, what kind of future do we expect for them?
Mike Descartes, Australia

Why oh why change? The additional cost for separate washbasins must be quite low compared to the overall costs of refurbishment.
Now one staff is required to supervise? Outside in the corridor? What use is that going to be and how does that compare to the good old fashioned system?
Mind you most boys are either bullies or shy with girls. The reverse is true as well. So some pupils will avoid these facilities and find relief at other non designated areas. Trust that the parents of the school were consulted, and they agreed?
Han de Min, UK

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John Peckham, head teacher of Bramhall High school, responds to the controversy:

This will help these toilets to become places where you slip in and out to 'do your business' without hanging about

The view of the students is that this [being unisex] will help these toilets to become places where you slip in and out to 'do your business' without hanging about.

Students may feel slightly uncomfortable in the joint facility and therefore not want to hang around. Their view is that this is much better than the fear and anxiety felt by some students going into single-sex toilets where older students can do what they like without staff supervision.

At present, some of our students feel so frightened of the toilets, they simply do not go - all day! A slight discomfort is probably preferable to this. We also have four other all girls toilets and four all boys - no-one will be forced to use this space.

Unfortunately today, should two young people wish to engage in sexual activity, they will probably do so in far more comfortable surroundings than these!

They are being designed so that they are easy for one person to supervise, to minimise any risk. Unfortunately today, should two young people wish to engage in sexual activity, they will probably do so in far more comfortable surroundings than these!

Two single-sex toilets require one man and one woman to supervise them - usually from outside the room. These toilets have the privacy built into the cubicles, and can be supervised by one member of staff of either gender.
John Peckham, Head teacher of Bramhall High School

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