A school has suspended 34 pupils after a TikTok toilet protest and warned that some may be permanently excluded. Pupils at Mountain Ash Comprehensive left classes and let off fire alarms as they joined toilet and uniform protests being co-ordinated on the social media platform around England and Wales.
A video uploaded to TikTok shows scores of pupils outside at Mountain Ash Comprehensive during the protest, although it’s not clear how many are protesters and how many are pupils evacuated after fire alarms were let off. Protestors said they were angry about new mixed gender toilets and some parents have claimed some toilets are locked during lessons.
The school strongly refuted this saying the new toilets are open all day, are open plan, but have designated boys and girls toilets and floor to ceiling doors. In a strongly worded letter headteacher Sam Evans said some pupils may have committed “criminal acts” letting off the fire alarm, which could lead to permanently expulsion.
Read more: New schools and hospitals to have single-sex toilets by law
When the school tweeted the headteacher's letter defending the toilets the responses included one saying: "My only complaints about these toilets is that if a girl has her period and has to change a sanitary towel or panty liner, the noise can be heard outside of the cubicle and the ages of those using these toilets can be cause of laughing and making fun. Not what a young girl wants."
Another said: "Children need separate washing facilities, particularly girls who may be dealing with period blood. Girls are choosing not to go during break times when they are more likely to encounter boys."
The headteacher's letter to parents and carers criticised parents who “glorified and praised" "appalling behaviour” during the protest on social media. They are being asked to “warn their children against being manipulated by TikTok trends, which are an increasing problem for schools across the UK at present”.
The school has launched an investigation which has led to 34 fixed term exclusions so far, but “it may well be that after more detailed investigations, longer exclusions or even permanent exclusions will be issued”, the headteacher warned.
TikTok videos show pupils throwing bins and tables and protesting over toilets, uniforms and school trips, have been circulating from schools in England.
Detailing what happened in the Mountain Ash Comprehensive protest the headteacher added: “You may be aware that pupils across the country are being encouraged to hold ‘toilet and/or uniform protests’ at school. A group of pupils organised and planned one of these protests at our school.
“Some of the pupils involved expected the protest to be legitimate and peaceful, but unfortunately, others had no intention of this and were instead, intent on engaging in serious anti-social behaviour and causing as much disruption to the learning of others as possible.
“Very quickly, many of the pupils involved at the start went back to class, as they realised that others were only interested in causing trouble.
The remaining pupils engaged in anti-social behaviour on the school site, including repeatedly setting off the fire alarm, causing the whole school to evacuate the building several times during the morning.
“They did not listen to staff instructions, entered the building during the fire drill and engaged in anti-social behaviour on our school site. Such behaviour is wholly unacceptable.
“We view the deliberate setting off of the fire alarm as being an extremely serious act. The person/persons deliberately setting off the fire alarms in these circumstances may have committed a criminal act and such behaviour cannot be tolerated.”
The headteacher said she was “disappointed” to read some of the social media posts from within the community, including posts by “some of the parents of those involved, which have glorified and praised this appalling behaviour”.
She said in contrast she was extremely proud of the way the majority of our pupils responded and the “dim view” they took of the behaviour. And the head said people had been misled about the toilets provided at the school.
Rhondda Cynon Taf local education authority and women's group respond:
A Rhondda Cynon Taf Council spokesperson said: “There was an unexpected pupil protest in relation to some recently installed toilets in Mountain Ash Comprehensive School on the 28th of February 2023. The new toilets are an open plan, modern and secure design and are installed in many of our schools. Toilet facilities in the school are accessible throughout the school day and are not gender neutral.
“The incident was dealt with and managed in accordance with the school behaviour policy.”
TikTok videos show pupils throwing bins and tables and protesting over toilets, uniforms and school trips, have been circulating from schools in England.
Responding to news of the protest Merched Cymru, which describes itself as "a grassroots group of ordinary women from across Wales who want to protect the sex-based rights of women and girls, said: "The law around school toilets in Wales is clear. It is in the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999. Boys and girls over the age of eight years must have separate male and female toilets.
"Schools that have a mixed sex toilet space, where cubicles without hand basins are designated male or female, do not meet legal requirements. Welsh Government were made aware of this in 2019 and the Welsh Local Government Association were made aware of this in 2019.
"The Children’s Commissioner for Wales (Sally Holland at the time) was made aware of this in 2019 – she made it clear that she expected all schools to be compliant with the relevant legislation. These mandatory rules are there for the dignity and safety of pupils.
"If a girl is sexually harassed or assaulted in a ‘mixed sex’ toilet space in Wales, or experiences bullying because of menstruation, then schools need to know that they have not fulfilled their duties towards their pupils.
"TikTok protests are clearly hugely disruptive for schools. School leaderships have stated the need for pupils and parents to follow the ‘proper routes’ if they have concerns. But research Merched Cymru’s predecessor carried out in 2018 and 2019 revealed schools were dismissing or ignoring concerns around mixed sex toilets when they were raised with staff.
"21st Century Schools (Welsh Govt) told us in 2019 that they were “not aware of any pupil concerns” around mixed sex toilet spaces. They could not provide us with any data on the subject at all. Schools may focus on the social media element of these protests, but the bigger question may be why schools, local authorities and Welsh Government have failed to engage with pupils and parents on this issue in the first place."
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