A Lanarkshire school has been accused of "heavy handed" behaviour in a row over toilet facilities for female pupils - after locking most of their loos during classes to crack down on pupils vaping.
Cathkin High in Rutherglen has been accused of overreacting by some parents after only allowing the girls communal toilets to be open during the morning interval and at lunchtime.
Accessible facilities do remain open the whole day, but there are only 15 to use in the school, while the school roll for pupils at Cathkin is over 1000.
Lanarkshire Live was contacted by a concerned parent who said it had left her daughter feeling embarrassed and awkward trying to find facilities.
She told us : "It's been extremely heavy handed and feels like all the pupils are being punished for a small group of girls who are vaping regularly.
"It can be embarrassing for girls having their periods and trying to change their tampons to have to try and find the accessible toilet rather than just using the communal ones.
"It is also a risk for pupils with medical conditions, such as having an overactive bladder - it is making something which should be straightforward into a harder task.
"It can be particularly bad when classes come out at the end of the day, as you have so many pupils around at the same time, and they say they can't open the communal facilities up then either.
"It is ridiculous that children are being limited to accessing a toilet, as it is surely is a basic human right and being unable to access the toilets is not good for their physical health."
Central Scotland list MSP Monica Lennon has campaigned for years about the issue of period poverty, and said she was concerned that limiting the available facilities would have a negative impact on female pupils.
She stated: “Limiting access to school toilets puts the health, wellbeing and dignity of children and young people at risk.
"All schools should have a good understanding of pupils’ health needs, including those who are menstruating or have bowel or bladder conditions.
"Much work has been done to tackle the stigma around periods, but we know that girls can still feel embarrassed. Forcing young people to ask for permission to use the toilet or reducing the availability of toilets are misguided and old-fashioned approaches.
"That this has been happening within the constituency of the minister for children and young people shows that there is no room for complacency. "
South Lanarkshire Council stressed that the toilets at Cathkin do have period products available, and that the 15 accessible toilets remain available during classes.
Anne Donaldson, the council's head of education, said: "There are accessible toilets open on every floor of the school that pupils can use during class times, and our toilets in the communal ‘street’ area are open at breaks and lunch.
"All toilets (except the boys’ toilet in the street) are fully stocked with period products and pupils are not prevented from using the toilet during class but are encouraged to do so at break and lunch times to minimise time out of class.
"The street toilets are monitored during breaks and lunch times to ensure they remain clean and tidy and remain an accessible and uncrowded place for all pupils to use."
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