“Can I go to the bathroom?” It’s a question that, quite frankly, shouldn’t be answered with no. The new policy that District 99 introduced at the beginning of the school year – stating that students cannot go to the bathroom in the first or last ten minutes of class – is an uncomfortable rule for many students.

DGS has issues with the bathrooms every year; vaping, skipping and phone usage are all problems the school has addressed. The school has taken measures from locking bathrooms to putting up signs stating that only one student is allowed per stall. The new policy is DGS’s latest measure to ensure students aren’t wandering in the halls.

While students are often told to use the restroom during passing periods, it’s not always a possibility. From distant classes or a traffic jam in the overcrowded hallways, five minutes isn’t cutting it for a lot of students with the addition of needing to scan in. Furthermore, if students dare to show up late after using the restroom, they still run the risk of receiving a tardy.

Previously, letting a teacher know you were going to the bathroom was enough – with a pass, of course. Now, students need to wait, and they end up missing crucial parts of the lesson because they need to use the restroom.

Yes, teachers have discretion over whether to let a student go to the restroom during the forbidden 20 total minutes of class, but teachers may ask a student to wait for a specific time during class or simply say no. This makes asking to go to the restroom during those 20 minutes of restricted restroom time nerve-racking.

With this, students are indirectly discouraged from asking to use the restroom. Since it’s a rule, students feel inclined to wait, sometimes even to dangerous amounts. According to CNN, long periods of waiting to use the restroom can cause health issues like UTIs, kidney infections and bladder stones.

However uncomfortable the conversation may be, the topic of the female students’ menstrual cycle must also be taken into consideration when discussing the restrooms, as women cannot simply wait to use the restroom. While the stigma surrounding menstrual cycles shouldn’t be negative, it unfortunately is for many women. They shouldn’t be forced through the embarrassment of explaining to their teacher why they must go at that time.

Moreover, with more rules around the restroom, more lines become blurry; not every class follows the same protocol when it comes to bathrooms. In some classes, students must scan out. In other classes, students must continue to use the green passes introduced in 2023.

Furthermore, being denied the ability to go to the restroom doesn’t prepare students for life outside of high school. From teenagers to adult students, they’re responsible enough to know when a bathroom break is needed; asking to go to the bathroom isn’t going to be a thing in an office job.

Changing the policy to have students wait for the first and last five minutes might alleviate concerns from the administration and student body. The halls remain clear for a couple of minutes, and students are given the autonomy to simply use the restroom. No matter how one tries to put the bathroom conversation into different perspectives, it is a basic human need that shouldn’t be infringed on.