Rancocas Valley students and fans are upset over new rules regarding bathroom usage during football games and other outdoor sporting events.
In addition to long-standing rules which included no backpacks and no outside food or drinks in the stadium, fans are no longer allowed to use the gymnasium bathroom. Instead, spectators have to use the porta-potties. The porta-potty rule was first introduced to students in a mass email sent out on September 3rd.
The porta-policy is controversial among the student body as many students are upset about not using the regular bathrooms. One of the main criticisms of the new policy is the lack of capacity the porta-potties have compared to the gym bathrooms.
“I think it’s a little bit inconvenient just because of how many people are at the games; there are only two porta-potties, and it’s kind of gross,” said senior Abigale Korzenko. “I think they should just open the indoor bathrooms again but keep more security so they know people aren’t going in and messing around,” added Korzenko.
The capacity criticism has extended to those who do not have a problem with using a porta-potty themselves, including senior Paris Ford. “I do not have a problem with it personally,” said Ford. “I think it can be a problem when there are so many people at the football game and there’s so little porta-potties,” claimed Ford.
Furthermore, many students simply dislike using the porta-potties as they are more cramped, dirty, and overall inferior compared to traditional bathrooms.
The main reason why the gym bathrooms are now closed is because of security. Without providing concrete numbers, athletic director Lamb claims “it costs us less to use the potties than it does to open the school and pay security and supplies.” The increased security is a result of previous disruptive and dangerous behavior in the regular bathrooms during football games.
said Lamb. “We also discovered people wandering through the areas without permission and letting others in the doors; this is not safe for our students to have all of these individuals in and out of our building without supervision,” added athletic director Lamb.
There have not yet been any major incidents involving misconduct in the porta-potties during football games this year.
“It’s kind of sad I’m not even gonna lie,” said freshman Saide Hepner. “I don’t know why we have it, it just doesn’t make sense.”
Despite the lack of support from spectators of outdoor events, they will have to adapt to the rule as it is likely one that will remain due to its effectiveness in accomplishing its set goal of preventing mishaps inside of the building.
