Even a full year after the “devious licks” TikTok trend bathroom, destruction continues to trouble the school. On Feb. 27 the administration put a new procedure in place to combat the destruction. 

There are currently five bathrooms open in the school, with one being on each floor besides the first floor of the A building. Two students are allowed in the bathroom at a time, and they must have their student IDs and hall passes on them to sign in. 

These regulations unfairly punish every student, not just those causing disruption. Not every student participated in the bathroom destruction, but now they also have to follow the new rules. 

This type of reaction is similar to when teachers would punish the entire class by taking away recess. It may have only been a few students acting out, but everyone had to sit in silence for 30 minutes instead of having fun outside. Then the same kids would act out in the same way, causing the same action to be repeated. Punishing a group of people does not work, and it hurts the innocent. Mass punishment is an unfair action especially when applied to a basic human right. 

The amount of people allowed in a bathroom causes more issues for the student body. A maximum of two people for one floor can cause an interference, and the rule forces people to wait outside in a line for an extended amount of time. A simple three minute bathroom break can turn into a 10 or even 15 minute one instead. This not only wastes students’ time but also class time. Time meant to be devoted to learning turns into time wasted on waiting to use the restroom. 

Waiting to use the restroom not only wastes time, but it can also cause serious harm to students in some instances. According to Geisinger, holding in urine weakens the bladder muscles and can cause bladder infections. Students shouldn’t have to risk getting seriously injured just because some students are causing destruction in the bathroom. The issue of waiting becomes even worse for people with periods as it risks the issue of leakage. Not changing sanitary items only become worse as it could lead to infections or Toxic Shock Syndrome.

Although the administration hopes these rules will help lower the chances of destruction, there’s no direct proof of that. It might scare a few students into not causing havoc, but students will still tear apart the bathrooms if they want to. The rules don’t physically stop students from destruction, it just keeps a better tab of who might’ve been the culprit. 

It is important to keep a check on the student body, but these regulations are not the way to go about it. It’s unfair and harmful to students to limit one of the most basic human necessities. Instead, the administration needs to think of new solutions that don’t impact people negatively.