Bruins are pissed that they can’t use the restroom when they want to.

Bear River might be a high school but, with these new bathroom regulations, Bruins feel like they’re back at Magnolia.

We at The Current believe that, under certain circumstances, the bathroom passes seem unnecessary. These cases fall under emergencies, nonetheless. For example, say we have already used all 3 to 5 passes given to us and yet really have to go. We believe that a Saturday School detention is an unfair penalty for a make-up bathroom use. The punishment does not fit the crime. Other than that, The Current feels that it doesn’t affect us any more than the policy we had last year.

But not all students feel this way. Senior Chandler Looper is a prime example when it comes to this new policy making students feel restricted.

“It’s awful,” said Looper. “I’m not a child, I have to go to the bathroom. I drink a lot of water. It’s like we’re supposed to be adults now but then they go and treat us like children. They can’t ask us to act like adults when they treat us like we’re in Kindergarten. Its hypocritical. How am I supposed to focus in class when all I’m focusing on is to try and not piss myself. The whole situation seems a little messed up, redundant even.”

Senior Trey Jarman agrees with Lopper and also brings up a good point about how everyone is different when it comes to bodily functions.

“I don’t actually enjoy it,” said Jarman. “You see the thing is that we can’t control ourselves all the time, especially three times in a semester. This makes us seem like we’re children. It takes us back to middle school where we didn’t get the same freedom and we weren’t trusted. We have a school of 600-ish people and that’s about 600 different kids with a different body type and different needs, different bodily experiences so you can’t just set one regulation and believe everyone can abide by it.”

Sophomore Jaycee Andersen brought light upon a problem that only girls have when having to use the restroom.

“Honestly… I hate it!” said Andersen. “I’m a girl and I’m going to be a feminist about this, but if I am on my period and I am getting bloodstains everywhere, I shouldn’t have to use a pass to go change my tampon! I really think, especially under certain circumstances [like these], we should have the right to go to the bathroom. Were not children.”

Dr. Amy Besler, principal of Bear River, understands that emergencies arise and believes that teachers would never hold their students during these circumstances. However, she also addressed that the bathroom passes are for emergencies.

“I don’t think any teacher would prevent any student from attending to an emergency,” said Dr. Besler. “I also know that, as a woman, I am able in almost every situation to address my personal needs within the time constraints of my day. Hall passes during class are meant to be used when those emergencies arise, as they certainly do occasionally.”

Dr. Besler further went on to explain the reason for the more enforced bathroom policy.

“We have become so much more unified as a school community in so many ways, including creating our shared values and celebrating all the awesome things that are going on at Bear River as a fundamental component of who we are and what we do,” said Besler. “Part of continuing to build an amazing school culture is raising the bar of expectation on ourselves — this goes for staff and students. We want classroom experiences to be as meaningful, engaging, relevant, and rewarding as possible, which involves limiting distractions, like cell phones and a constant stream of students coming and going. It also means that teachers are working harder to maximize their use of class time and really make it count for our students. I think it’s very reasonable to limit hall passes as students have ample time between classes, before school, and during lunch to take care of their personal needs.”

Even with the reasoning from Dr. Besler, students are still irritated that their bathrooms needs are becoming more restricted. Some declare their annoyance with complaints while others, such as Looper, would voice that they are just “Peeved… I’m peeved!”