Are schools restricting access to toilets to stop pupils vaping?

Some parents and former pupils say yes – but the schools say no.

Stuff has been contacted by people with connections to several schools who say access to toilets is being restricted to stop pupils from vaping.

But the principals say that is not the case.

Earlier this week the father of a pupil at Gore High School said the school had banned some pupils from going to the toilet during class time, so they would not see older pupils vaping.

Gore High School rector John McKinlay said the school had ‘’tightened up’’ access to toilets during class time to discourage the misuse of restroom breaks as a means of avoiding classroom activities, and teachers were encouraged to ‘’use their professional judgement and assess each situation individually”.

Since then, Stuff has been contacted by several people claiming toilets were unable to be accessed at schools.

The parent of a child at Invercargill’s Verdon College said the school physically locks the toilets throughout the day, often leaving one or two open bathrooms with three cubicles open to the whole school of that gender.

But school principal Jarlath Kelly said the claims were ‘’absolutely not true”.

“Our toilets are open and unlocked at all times except for the times that the toilet will be closed for clearing and maintenance, on the odd occasion, like any toilets in any school or public facility would be. That might be for a period of hours during the day on the odd occasion and certainly not in any way as characterised.’’

Kelly said the school was dealing with a small number of students at the school that have an issue with vaping through its pastoral process with individual students and families.

“We have not in any way initiated closure of toilets relating to vaping as this person has falsely stated.’’

A person associated with Karamū High School in Hastings contacted Stuff to say locking toilets at the school had been a policy for most of the year despite parents and teachers objecting.

“They also regularly lock one or several of the toilets at lunch reducing students to being able to access as few as three toilets for the 950 students in the school. It’s not just the vaping but also the destruction that students are causing,’’ the person said.

Karamū High School principal Dionne Thomas said toilets were only ever closed if they were damaged and needed repairing, and were never closed because of vaping.

“Some toilets have needed be locked on rare occasions this year for repairs to be conducted. The school roll is currently 850 and there are over 21 toilets in the school, designated boys, girls, or gender-neutral. When a toilet block is out of action students are instructed to use the many other available areas,’’ she said.

“We have had open dialogue with staff and whānau around access to toilets during the day to ensure our ākonga can self-manage and feel safe at school.’’

A former pupil from Napier Boys High School said vaping was a massive issue at the school and the only way the staff could find to reduce it was to lock the bathrooms during class times and install security cameras in one of the bathrooms, although the camera could not see into the stalls.

He said many students who did actually need to use the bathroom where denied and only allowed to go if they threatened to go right there in the classroom.

“This felt very unfair for students and we believed it was a breach of our human rights as we were told to use the toilets at break times or “hold it in”.

The school has been contacted for comment but had not responded before deadline.

Education Minister Jan Tinetti said it was certainly her expectation, as Minister, that school toilets should be available for safe use.

“If parents and guardians have concerns about students’ toilet access, we encourage them to contact their school principal,’’ she said.

“Schools are required by law to be smoke-free (including vaping). Principals across the country have raised with me concerns about vaping and the Government has announced new regulations which come into force next month.’’

The rules include not establishing new specialist vape shops within 300 metres of schools and marae, only using generic names to describe vape flavours, and a reduction in the maximum concentration of nicotine allowed in vapes.