Unisex toilets in primary schools

I think it has quite a bit to do with where the toilets are situated with regards to the other school buildings. When I was at school they were a good way from the rest of the school civilisation whereas in the schools I taught in they are within the buildings and nearer to classrooms etc.

A truly awful idea. Seems that people are being ridiculous over a certain "minority" group as usual.

Just to clarify what I mentioned earlier, the gender-neutral loos in our school are an EXTRA facility to accommodate LGBTG students just as loos are provided for disabled students. I'm all in favour of providing facilities for minority groups.

Great if you can do that, however most places can't and under no circumstances should toilets be made unisex due to a "minority" group.

Is it a selling point in the school you work in Bluebell?

When I was at school it was seperate schools for boys and girls ....the schools became one a couple of years after I left.Honestly I think we got a better education without having girls competing over/flirting with boys .I'm not prudish about periods etc but at that age I think lots of girls feel embarassed and would want privacy away from boys

I am with you Tessa. I believe children are far too young and should be left alone to enjoy their childhood. Senior school is just about right, and I think even they are shocked because at least they know what sex is by then. They could not comprehend what Lesbians and Homosexuals, cross-dressers or transsexuals are when they are at junior school. Leave them be I say.

Yorkshiregel im even more shocked after reading what some posters mentioned about bullying and girls periods, I had not even given that a thought.

Never mind the kids, I am too young to know about all this stuff!!! Why do we have to be involved with other people's sex lives at every turn now (no pun intended) I know who the Met police chief has sex with, which I didn't need to know, I also know all about transgenders way beyond my everyday need...........

Let's just have individual toilets for everyone then, what about the people who like sex with animals, shall we get cubicles big enough to get the horse in, on necrophilliacs who may need to get someone's dear departed on a trolley through the doors?????

Just stop it!!!!!

Sexual matters should be something people learn as they mature into adults, poor kids now being sexualised all the time by minority groups wanting to promte their own cause. Grrrrrrrrrr

Oh the voice of reason Bluebell, thank you.

In the school where I work, we have one unisex toilet between each two classes, so 60 children using one loo. And this is in a newly built school! Bad planning, but surprisingly the only complaint we get is that the girls say the boys wee everywhere.

So yorkshiregel my DGCs shouldn't have been involved in their aunt's civil partnership ceremony? How do you justify keeping children in ignorance of a significant family matter?

There is no way I would want to use unisex public toilets where a man has left wee all over the seat or they are waking out of the cubicle still 'putting it away' so why should we inflict this on children.

I suppose that in twenty or thirty years time, people will have grown up with and accepted all the many gender identities and sexual orientations. It does worry me that gender dysphoria seems almost to be forced on very young children these days by raising their awareness. I often expressed a wish that I'd been a boy when I was a child and was described as a tomboy. Thank heaven my parents didn't have me wheeled in for gender reassignment surgery! I grew out of that particular grass-is-greener idea.

All of the nurseries my grandchildren have attended had/have unisex toilets. It has never been a problem. At their next school it has depended on whether the are in the 19th century part of the building or the new extensions. Reception, Y1 and Y2 all have unisex toilets between the two classrooms for each year. It is just the way things are and has never presented a problem. When they move up to the next year in the older part of the building there are boys and girls toilets which are away from the classrooms. Again its just the way things are and not a problem for the children.

I don't think it's a problem in early primary years to have unisex, but I strongly feel it should be handled sensitively for the pre teens/approaching puberty and beyond, especially for girls, when it would be sensible/common sense to have male and female loos.

Aren't our bathrooms & toilets unisex at home?

From what I gather unisex often means separate cubicles marked M or F or presumably either, with a joint washroom. I have been in some adult toilts like this. For older children I assume they would put sanitary fowels in all the girls cubicles.
It seems Scotland is forging ahead with this - time will tell as to the result.

The main thing in my mind is to look into giving all toilets a little more privacy. In homes we don't mind sharing a toilet with all genders since there is a door to the toilet and no one can look over the top, under the door, or listen to every rustle or squeak coming from behind a flimsy hardboard partition. It's the way institutional toilets are designed that makes people upset about sharing with other gender configurations.

I personally know two young people who are transgendering from female to male ,one 15 and one 19 ,I have to say the support they are bothe getting in school and college has been impressive .Scotland DOES lead the way with LGBT issues

Starbird the wash facilities need to be in the cubicle too in that case. What girl wants to come out of the cubicle in front of boys to wash a blood drip off her leg or skirt or whatever? Mind you, when I was a young teen I was even embarrassed to do that even in front of other girls. Let's have self-contained wash rooms.

radicalnan you often make some salient points but demean them by being trite.

My dgd (6) has enough toilet issues without them being unisex! Boys running in, boys encouraging girls into boys toilets, lights being switched on & off, cubicle doors being opened and general shenanigans! And the teachers are NOT allowed in there to sort out problems!
Keep them separate and allow teachers/playground assistant in there if needs be! Surely they are all enhanced pvg checked? I am very aware a vile person slips through the net occasionally but we cannot assume every person who works in a school only does so for their own twisted agenda ?

I have holidayed in mainland Europe for many years, if you use a Supermarket/ Motorway Stop/ Museum/ Railway Station/ etc, you may encounter them being cleaned, customers are directed to the Male of Female toilets, to use, I have lost count over the years the number of times I have passed guys using the urinal whilst I went into a cabin, I cannot see any problems using either sex toilets.(Except mens stink), my bigger problem is councils forcing this sexual fluidity on us, we are either born male or female. end of rant!!!

I don't believe that unisex toilets are a good idea anywhere and the same goes for unisex wards in hospital.