A middle school in North Carolina has reportedly opted to remove bathroom mirrors due to an increase in students using valuable class time to create TikTok videos in the restrooms.
"Students were going to the bathroom for long periods and making TikTok," Alamance-Burlington School System spokesperson Les Atkins told Fox News, explaining that Southern Alamance Middle School in Graham, North Carolina, resorted to removing bathroom mirrors to eliminate the distraction.
The educational institution stated that, on average, students typically visit the restroom three to four times a day. However, there has been a consistent rise, with students now visiting the restroom seven, eight, or nine times a day. Since removing the mirrors, Mr Atkins explained, the school has seen, "not as many visits to the bathroom, not staying as long, and students are held accountable, and when there's accountability, you see a great difference."
Mr Atkins explained the school system is trying to educate students on "digital citizenship," Fox News reported.
"We're trying to educate students. Like we all have cell phones now. We have to learn to use them. We have to learn when to put them down," he told WFMY. The school is also implementing Smart Pass, a digital hall pass system which officials say allows students to check in and out of class. It's intended to enable staff to better track where students are at all times for safety and accountability reasons, according to school leadership.
"We strive to limit distractions so students can focus on learning," Southern Alamance Middle School said in a letter to parents, according to WTVD. "Though this is an adjustment, we believe these changes will foster a better learning environment by minimizing disruptions."
The school administration mentioned that the digital hall pass system incurs no additional charges, as it is integrated into the existing software already available to the school and district.
