High school sparks outrage after ripping out its toilets and removing the cubicle doors in a drastic move to ‘combat misbehaviour’
- A Tasmanian high school removed toilets
- Parents called it a ‘violation of human rights’
- The toilets and cubicle doors were put back
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Outraged parents say their children have been stripped of their ‘human rights’ after a small high school removed the doors off toilet cubicles to combat misbehaviour.
New Norfolk High School, about 35km northwest of Hobart, in Tasmania, removed the doors over the summer holiday.
Students only learned about the changes when they returned to class on Wednesday.
New Norfolk High School (above) removed the cubicle doors in toilets to combat students vaping and smoking in bathrooms
Footage of one of the school’s bathrooms shows almost all of the toilets had been ripped out with only one remaining, with no door attached to the cubicle.
An online petition started by an angry parent gained more than 450 signatures and claimed students were waiting up to 30 minutes to use the single toilet.
‘Students should most definitely have access to a toilet in a timely manner, due to general use, sickness, health conditions,’ it said.
‘This was done in an attempt to stop smoking or vaping in toilet cubicles, however this is also a massive violation of human rights.’
‘(They) should not be being penalised in an attempt to curb bad behaviour of a minority.’
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Local mayor Michelle Dracoulis slammed the school’s drastic action.
‘I will be contacting the school. Our kids have a human right to access bathroom facilities when they need them,’ she wrote.
‘I understand there will be reasons the school has taken this step, but there needs to be another way found to address those issues.’
Workers were at the school on Saturday (above) to put the toilets but in place following an onslaught of outrage from parents
The Department of Education released a statement on Friday after hearing parents’ concerns saying access to toilets would be ‘increased’ by Tuesday.
‘The department has closely monitored operations at the school today and will continue to do so until the situation is rectified,’ it read.
‘The department apologises to the students and families of New Norfolk High School.’
Photos showed workers were at the school to reinstall the toilets on Friday morning.
Mayor Dracoulis shared the photo to her Facebook page praising the efforts of parents.
‘Thank you parents and community for coming together to stand up for our kids,’ she wrote.
Daily Mail Australia contacted the Department of Education for comment.
