Are ‘Potty Passes’ a Fair Way to Control Bathroom Traffic?

Bella Yancey

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At Powell High School, the bathrooms have always been a topic everyone has an opinion on. Either they are too dirty, too crowded, or too small; however, this does not change the fact that going to the bathroom is a necessity. So, with the limited time between class changes along with the inconsistent openings of the bathrooms, most students are forced to wait until the middle 30 minutes until they can access the bathroom. Yet, some teachers have taken it upon themselves to restrict the already limited bathroom time by administering "potty passes".

In my experience, teachers have handed out six total potty passes for the entire semester, which acts as a pass for students who wish to go to the bathroom during the middle 30. This further limits a student's right to use the restroom, more so than the school already has, and is an unfair practice regardless of the teacher's true intention. Yes, I understand that some students take advantage of the middle 30 and decide to skip class, but how is this fair to the students who have pure intentions? For example, students who have class in the portables may take the entire 6 minutes to get to class, which leaves their only opportunity to use the restroom in the middle 30. After the student waits 30 minutes to even ask to use the bathroom, they are required to use one of their few bathrooms passes. But sooner or later, these potty passes will run out, leaving the students no time to access the restroom. Implementing further restrictions on this small window of time creates an unfair environment where students are forced to worry about if they will have the qualifications to use the restroom. The use of “Potty Passes” is an elementary tactic that high school students have out grown. Requiring them only makes using the restroom more stressful than it needs to be.