The Smallest Hill: Public bathroom etiquette

Elizabeth Payton — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 14:00:00 +0000

I get it. College students are busy. Always being on the move and trying to maximize your time inevitably leads to shortcuts in the name of efficiency. However, there is really no excuse for the mortifying lack of hygiene that I have witnessed in Jewell’s public bathrooms.

As someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, you might imagine the absolute horror I experience as I begrudgingly walk into these common areas. With mysterious liquid all over the sink basin, used paper towels crumpled up in the corner and the mind-numbing ubiquity of a one-millisecond-hand-washing technique, I often wonder how students remain blissfully unaware of the mess they create.

Public bathroom etiquette is an integral feature of society as we know it — a testament to humankind’s moral capacity as we thrive in these communities. At a place of higher education, we should expect each other to take even more care into maintaining our bathrooms, rather than settling with the absolute bare-minimum of public hygiene. In other words, we aren’t toddlers for God’s sake.

So for the students who may have forgot, here is a refresher on public bathroom etiquette:

Always wash your hands

Regular hand-washing is recognized as one of the most effective ways to prevent infection, sickness and disease. Combined with the fact that public restrooms tend to be a hotspot for cross contamination and certain disease-causing microbes, the use of proper hand-washing techniques after using public facilities is important. To truly reap the benefits of hand-washing, you should ideally wash your hands multiple times a day — before eating, after eating,and after using the bathroom. Besides, who knows what kind of previously undiscovered mutant-microbe is thriving in the Jewell bathrooms?

Despite the dozens of students who seem to think so, running your hands under the water for five seconds does not count as hand-washing. Proper hand-washing includes wetting your hands, lathering them with soap and scrubbing for at least 20 seconds, then washing them under running water. If that sounds confusing, there are plenty of YouTube tutorials and online guides that demonstrate the process.

Leave the space cleaner than you found it

As a “golden rule” taught in most U.S. kindergartens, it goes without saying that people who use a common space should actually help keep it clean. The messier a space is, the harder it is to inspire others to do their part. The janitorial staff already has their hands full trying to prevent our classrooms from becoming petri dishes for the new SARS-CoV-2 or influenza variant, so the least you can do is pick up after yourself.

Like hand-washing, practicing this rule is surprisingly easy: if you dribble water on the sink basin, wipe it up; if you miss the trash can with an attempted across-the-room, used-paper-towel basketball shot, pick it up; if you accidentally smear soap all over the mirror, walls and floor amid a psychotic breakdown — perhaps connect with counseling services or call 988 first — then clean it up.

Do not be disruptive

Though not quite related to hygiene, behavior is still an important aspect of bathroom etiquette. There is nothing more awkward than using a public restroom and someone is having a loud phone conversation the entire time. Don’t be this person. Don’t be weird.

In general, use the bathroom for bathroom-related things, then leave. If you need to be in the restroom for an extended amount of time, be courteous of others. Acceptable activities include:

using the bathroom,
washing your hands,
applying makeup or fixing your hair,
brushing your teeth or other water-related hygienic routines,
checking your fit,
screaming with an apparent reason
and catching your breath after running across campus so that you don’t look out of shape.

Unacceptable activities include, but are not limited to:

eating or drinking,
talking loudly on the phone or otherwise,
knocking on stall doors,
looking into stalls,
acknowledging the large gap in the stall doors,
playing footsies,
singing or any act of theatrical performance,
screaming for no apparent reason
and playing TikTok or Youtube videos unmuted.

In all, just don’t be gross or weird in the bathrooms. Wash your hands, clean up after yourself and be aware of your actions.

A new transgender policy is currently being drafted by William Jewell College’s by Student Senate. Members of Senate and the Office of Student Life are working to create a policy that provides a foundation for services and accommodations for transgender students and/or students who are transitioning.

Annie Murphey, senior, is a representative in Senate who has had an active role in pushing for a transgender policy to be put in place by the College. Murphey studied abroad at the University of Oxford last year and was involved in the University’s campaign to introduce a transgender policy. The project there was large and required sensitivity.

“The University already had a policy, but all of the Oxford colleges work on different systems and none of them had anything to address the protocols for students that transition. When a student changes their name and/or pronouns, you can imagine it requires a collective effort by the college to make those changes sensitively and with respect towards the student,” said Murphey.

After working on the project at Oxford, Murphey decided that students at Jewell would benefit from a similar policy. The College does not currently have a policy to help support transgender and transitioning students. Murphey joined Student Senate in order to help enact this change on campus.

“Although student government is not something I’m normally interested in, I thought it could be a good way for me to learn how to make changes at Jewell, especially in the LGBTQ sphere,” said Murphey.

Now Senate is working on creating a transgender policy to set up the basic standards that the College will have for students who are transgender and/or transitioning. The policy is still in the drafting stages but aims to facilitate diversity and inclusion on campus. This includes creating gender-neutral bathrooms, gender-neutral accommodations and a channel of communication for students who are transitioning.

“The new policy will cover a huge array of things. It will have a major focus on communication amongst staff members and database changes. We will identify a point of contact for students to go to when they wish to make changes, such as their email address or name on file,” Murphey said.

Office of Student Life and Student Senate members on the walk through campus housing.

Student Life is working with Senate to help get policies approved. A walk around campus was promoted to help brainstorm locations for gender-neutral bathrooms and living accommodations. Students, Murphey, Shelley King, Ernie Stufflebean and Stephany Guest attended this walk through. Student Life is collaborating to help create a comprehensive policy.

“What is most important for us right now is making sure the facilities we have, such as restrooms, are safe and welcoming to our transgender population,” said Shelly King, dean of students.

The project is still in the planning stages, and a lot is undecided. Murphey discussed the potential for two separate policies on campus, which would help create a cohesive approach to developing a more inclusive environment.

“We have thrown around the idea of making two policies: one more focused on the administrative responsibilities to students and the other about developing the campus to be more conscious and inclusive towards trans and gender non-conforming people. The goal will be to educate the whole campus about the challenges they face in our community. This second policy would focus on changing how we live, from the way we talk to the curriculum in classes,” said Murphey.

Students who wish to get involved in the decision-making process have some options. Student Senate hosts free coffee Sunday nights in the Pryor Learning Commons where students can come and discuss projects on campus, including the new transgender policy. Senate also plans to send out a campus-wide survey on gender-neutral accommodations. Student Life plans to hold a focus group discussing gender-neutral bathrooms on campus.

Photo by Elizabeth Messina

restrooms – The Hilltop Monitor

The Smallest Hill: Public bathroom etiquette

Jewell works on transgender policy