Students at a Darwin school are choosing to go thirsty to limit the need to use the toilet after the introduction of a locked-bathroom policy during class time to deter anti-social behaviour.
Taminmin College in Darwin's rural hub of Humpty Doo says the new policy is for the safety of students and the toilet blocks are closed during class but open at all other times.
Students wishing to use the toilet during class time must now request a pass from their teacher, sign out the next available bathroom key from reception, and return the key again before they return to class.
On some occasions, students must wait in a queue until a key is returned.
The toilet blocks are open all other times, including between classes.
One student has set up a petition called Taminmin Bathroom Rights and a social media page has ignited over the issue.
Parent Melissa Taylor she saw 15 students, including her child, waiting to use a bathroom and declared the policy undignified and a human rights issue, particularly for those menstruating.
"She waited around for about 20 minutes during class time to go the toilet," she told ABC Radio Darwin.
"[She] didn't get to the front of the line [and] had to go back to class and then get on a bus and go home.
"Kids are missing out on huge amounts of learning opportunities."
Ms Taylor says the policy is impacting her children's health.
"My kids come home each day really upset, dehydrated," she said.
"They're limiting their food and their fluid intake at school for fear of not actually being able to use the toilet in a timely manner.
"They're just really fed up with it."
Taminmin College principal John Harris said in a school dispatch in October that a student survey found issues with privacy, cleanliness, damage, crowding, and vaping.
The decision was made that the toilets would be locked — during class time only — from term 4 onward as a trial.
Another survey is imminent and the board will discuss the complaints this week.
Call for police constables to return
School board chairperson Beverley Ratahi has called for the return of police constables to the School Based Police Program rather than auxiliary police officers.
Run collaboratively with the NT Police and the NT Department of Education, auxiliary police officers support students from grades 7 to 10.
The program focuses on students' health, safety, wellbeing and resilience rather than behaviour management.
"Since the constables were replaced with auxiliaries, anti-social behaviour and vandalism have actually escalated in all schools," Ms Ratahi said.
"They were tuned into the students and they could proactively engage in de-escalating behaviours."
NT Education Minister Eva Lawler says two of the territory's 15 school-based police officers (SBPO) are at Taminmin College.
"The second SBPO position at Taminmin College was filled earlier this month, the officer requires further defensive tactics training and will be fully operational in May," she said.
"Officers are trained in classroom practice, positive behaviour management, child safety and wellbeing, working with children with additional needs and other police procedures and skills.
"They are well supported by a mentoring constable and overseen by a dedicated sergeant, senior sergeant and superintendent."
The right to dignity and education
Social planning researcher Katherine Webber has researched toilets globally and says the school's bathroom policy creates obstacles for students being able to access a toilet, which is a human rights issue.
Locking the toilets is "at odds" with the right to dignity, the right to education, the right to water and sanitation and the right to gender equality, Ms Webber says.
"Any policy or process that places barriers to accessing toilets could impact how the students participate in the classroom," she said.
"By making them wait, they're going to be missing out on the time in the classroom."
Ms Webber has concerns that students must receive permission to use the bathroom.
"There can always be shame about telling people they need to go to the toilet," she said.
"By creating two or three different gatekeepers, essentially the school is making students ask, 'My body needs to function. Do you give me permission to do that?' Each and every time."
Ms Webber says there are other ways to curb vandalism and anti-social behaviour in school bathrooms.
"You could have more casual surveillance of the toilets; you may have a person that regulates who's going in and who's going out," she said.
"There are different ways of managing those types of behaviours [without] creating all those barriers to access."
Access to sanitation is particularly important for students when they have their period, Ms Webber says.
"Globally, we see participation rates drop in education when people start to menstruate," she said.
"This could be due to lack of bins, lack of toilets, lack of access to menstrual products, also the shame and taboo of changing bodies.
"They're not going to be fully present if they're concentrating on what their body can or can't do, because they need to go to the toilet."
Policy to be reviewed: department
A Department of Education spokesperson said the policy was met with support from the students and supported by the school board.
"Due to inappropriate use of the toilets during class time, as well as to maximise teaching and learning by minimising classroom disruption, the toilets are locked during class time," a spokesperson said.
"In line with the school's policy review process, a new survey will be distributed in the next few weeks and the findings evaluated.
"Any changes to this policy resulting from the responses will be conveyed to the school community."
