EDUCATIONAL & SCHOOL FACILITIES
“There has been a significant rise in vandalism in school toilets since COVID.”
A child’s eye view of the school washroom
What do pupils think of their school washrooms? Stuart Hands from Tork manufacturer Essity looks at these facilities from a child’s point of view and considers how easy or otherwise school toilets are to use – and abuse.
The people who design and equip school washrooms are obviously adults, and students are rarely – if ever – consulted during the process.
So, are pupils actually happy with the washrooms provided at school? This seems unlikely given the results of the 2025 Tork Insight Survey. This revealed that 54% of people in general experience some form of difficulty when using a public washroom.
Individual conditions and circumstances can make toilets difficult or uncomfortable to use, according to the global study of 11,500 people. It’s clear from the research that washrooms can pose particular issues for children.
A degree of dexterity is often required to use the taps and dispensers for soap, toilet paper and hand towels in a washroom, and this can cause difficulties for children who may have low hand strength. While the hand wash basins in a school might be positioned lower on the wall to cater for shorter pupils, it is unlikely that all of them will be at the right height for every pupil at each stage of their development.
Sensitive youngsters could be disconcerted when confronted with mess and clutter caused by discarded hand towels, toilet rolls, wet floors or leaky soap systems. Others will be repulsed by bad smells or find the noise of the air dryer unnerving.
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According to research by children’s bowel and bladder charity ERIC, many children today consider the washrooms at their schools to be dirty and intimidating. Around 24% are scared to use these facilities either because of loud noises, unpleasant smells or a generally threatening environment. Around a third claim to refrain from drinking water during the school day to avoid them having to use the washroom.
School washrooms are generally unsupervised environments that are often the target of vandals and bullies. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there has been a significant rise in vandalism in school toilets since COVID for a number of reasons.
Soon after schools reopened in 2021, a global TikTok trend emerged that challenged students to vandalise their school washrooms and post evidence of their activities on social media. Mirrors were broken, dispensers were ripped off the walls and sinks were smashed by pupils taking part in the Devious Licks challenge. The trend resulted in millions of pounds’ worth of damage to school washrooms worldwide. Though Devious Licks has technically died out, the habit for trashing toilets has continued.
Vaping is also on the rise and pupils are choosing to do this in the relative privacy of the washroom. Many schools have reacted by installing vape detectors – which are often
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