Brookfield High School installed a menstrual product dispenser in the men’s bathroom last month, and less than 20 minutes later, it had been torn off of the wall. This vandalization has sparked controversy amongst students, staff and parents.
As of September 1, all girls and gender neutral bathrooms, as well as one boys bathroom, were required to have menstrual supplies available, but Brookfield implemented this just now as it was supposed to go into effect last year.
Principal Marc Balanda informed parents of the time of this event via email.
“The installation was completed at 9:30 a.m. By 9:52 a.m. tampons were on the floor, the newly installed distribution box was ripped off the wall, along with the masonry anchors and the distribution box itself was destroyed,” Principal Marc Balanda said in an email to parents.
This was not a first time event, as the boy’s bathrooms have been vandalized several times before. Stalls, soap dispensers and toilets have all been intentionally broken before. Some believe this could be considered a more pointed destruction, targeting transgender or non - binary youth, as the purpose of this law was to accommodate bathrooms for all gender identities.
Issues with vandalizing bathrooms have impacted Newtown High School as well.
“We want bathrooms to be a place where people can feel safe physically and emotionally. This event does not do that. This vandalism was done to purposely destroy something. It was targeted vandalism based on their beliefs. It does not solve their issue,” NHS Assistant Principal David Roach said.
Some students believe that the destruction was attributed more to this being a sudden change, and that more preface to this change could have helped it to go more smoothly.
“From a girls point of view, sometimes we do forget feminine products. They should’ve installed these products in the women’s restrooms in the high school first before the men’s because many times we are unprepared,” BHS senior Riley Roksfold said.
This event was largely covered by many Connecticut news stations, making it very widespread. Though some believe that this event has been taken out of context, and was not overly different from the past vandalizations.
“We’ve been doing that for like the past three years. I just feel like it’s kind of getting blown out of proportion,” Brookfield High School student Allister Gall said.
The dispenser will soon be re - installed in the bathroom, and monitoring over the bathroom will likely increase. As other schools and buildings put this law into action, it will become clear if this a recurring event, or a one time issue.