New - The things that really annoy you

[Alan]

You actually have to pay to take tests in high school?

Just the big ones; SAT, ACT, and any Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams.

AFAIK most public school districts will cover the cost of the first attempt at the SAT or the various AP exams; ACT is a toss-up, as I mentioned; not a clue about IB as it wasn't offered at my high school, but would guess it closely aligns with AP in terms of cost (IE, first one is free but after that, it's on you).

 

[Johnny75]

That's batshit.

 

[Alan]

That's a country that doesn't value its schooling, baby.

My mom was a teacher here for a long time. I made more money per hour at my first job than she did as an educator. It's fucked up.

Anywho, sorry to hijack things a bit.

 

[Del Woppio]

Ugh. A local high school is converting one of its single sex toilet blocks to being mixed sex, at the request of the student council. The local Facebook group is going absolutely fucking mental. I'm one of maybe three out of a hundred that's on the "whatever" side of the argument, and while I'm obviously more than happy running multiple arguments concurrently, it's absolutely brutal seeing so many people so ill informed and raging about it. It's really sad.

 

[Keef]

I think we started International Baccalaureate over here, if you could count all the letters you passed maths, and if you could spell it you passed English

 

[Alan]

I think we started International Baccalaureate over here, if you could count all the letters you passed maths, and if you could spell it you passed English

I was sweet on a girl who was in an IB program back in the day. Remember her telling me once that the IB courseload ended up putting her actual university experience to shame. Which is to say, it was a very intense program to put on teens.

Ugh. A local high school is converting one of its single sex toilet blocks to being mixed sex, at the request of the student council. The local Facebook group is going absolutely fucking mental. I'm one of maybe three out of a hundred that's on the "whatever" side of the argument, and while I'm obviously more than happy running multiple arguments concurrently, it's absolutely brutal seeing so many people so ill informed and raging about it. It's really sad.

"We can't let the kids decide things for themselves! Think of the, uh, kids!"

 

[Jack Regan]

The gender neutral toilets are always going to cause these sort of tantrums it would seem. As a civil servant whose department has moved to purpose built regional centres in the last 3 years, all of which were going have gender neutral toilets. The first of which when opened caused a massive furore, so now my local centre in Birmingham (12 floors opened about a year later) now has one floor only where the toilets are non gender specific all others are either male or female only (all the toilets have self contained cubicles).

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Sounds like someone might work for HMRC

 

[Jack Regan]

Sounds like someone might work for HMRC

Nah! Not me guv honest...

 

[Wolf Hunting]

The gender neutral toilets are always going to cause these sort of tantrums it would seem. As a civil servant whose department has moved to purpose built regional centres in the last 3 years, all of which were going have gender neutral toilets. The first of which when opened caused a massive furore, so now my local centre in Birmingham (12 floors opened about a year later) now has one floor only where the toilets are non gender specific all others are either male or female only (all the toilets have self contained cubicles).

So, what do they have to do?
Take all the urinals out, replace with a cubicle and install tampon disposable units in each one?
I can see that you're not gonna get 8 cubicles where you had 8 urinals so space might be an issue, but if the mens toilets are being serviced in Tesco's for instance, no problems just nipping into the ladies cubicle if Im bursting....

 

[Jabbawolf]

So, what do they have to do?
Take all the urinals out, replace with a cubicle and install tampon disposable units in each one?
I can see that you're not gonna get 8 cubicles where you had 8 urinals so space might be an issue, but if the mens toilets are being serviced in Tesco's for instance, no problems just nipping into the ladies cubicle if Im bursting....

No problem for you, but I'm sure many ladies would have a problem - many women have suffered sexual abuse from men in women's toilets, so your presence may well be unwelcome and triggering.

 

[PuntsWolf]

Ugh. A local high school is converting one of its single sex toilet blocks to being mixed sex, at the request of the student council. The local Facebook group is going absolutely fucking mental. I'm one of maybe three out of a hundred that's on the "whatever" side of the argument, and while I'm obviously more than happy running multiple arguments concurrently, it's absolutely brutal seeing so many people so ill informed and raging about it. It's really sad.

What are the arguments for and against? As a Male I wouldn’t be arsed. But my only thoughts are that male toilets are a bit grim, so subjecting females to that seems a bit unnecessary (unless this is outweighed by positives).

Also there’s the capacity issue (not an issue in a school id imagine), but on nights out (bars/theatres/cinemas/any busy place), football matches, then gender neutral toilets would create further capacity problems. My female work colleagues tend to moan if we go out and it’s shared toilets but I’m assuming there are benefits in work/school settings where things should theoretically not be as busy/grim.

 

[BillyDee]

No one kicked up a fuss about the neutral toilets in Ally McBeal...

 

[BillyDee]

But my only thoughts are that male toilets are a bit grim, so subjecting females to that seems a bit unnecessary

On this point, having worked in hospitality for many years, the state of the ladies at the end of the night was always far worse...

 

[leedswolf]

There isn't any legal requirements for gender specific sanitary conveniences in UK workplaces. Shared facilities are acceptable so long as certain criteria are met, eg single secure WCs, urinals (if provided) screened, etc.

 

[Del Woppio]

What are the arguments for and against? As a Male I wouldn’t be arsed. But my only thoughts are that male toilets are a bit grim, so subjecting females to that seems a bit unnecessary (unless this is outweighed by positives).

Also there’s the capacity issue (not an issue in a school id imagine), but on nights out (bars/theatres/cinemas/any busy place), football matches, then gender neutral toilets would create further capacity problems. My female work colleagues tend to moan if we go out and it’s shared toilets but I’m assuming there are benefits in work/school settings where things should theoretically not be as busy/grim.

It was a single sex block quite removed from the main building (not sure which gender), and the student council requested it be changed, presumably for convenience, and also for the experience of those that are gender curious (I'm sorry if that's not the right term).

Fors - the kids want it; presumably the school have ran risk assessments; it's all cubicles so the only privacy issue is when washing hands; there are plenty of other traditional bathrooms for those that don't want to use them

Against - woke/trans agenda; girls won't shit/change pads etc if there are boys that can here; slippery slope, rainbows and general security/privacy concerns.

 

[Jack Regan]

So, what do they have to do?
Take all the urinals out, replace with a cubicle and install tampon disposable units in each one?
I can see that you're not gonna get 8 cubicles where you had 8 urinals so space might be an issue, but if the mens toilets are being serviced in Tesco's for instance, no problems just nipping into the ladies cubicle if Im bursting....

It was a brand new building so therefore they could have created the toilet facilities however they want. Originally all the toilets were to be self contained with a sink etc in each lockable stall (which is how it is in my office, although still gender specific). However this was abandoned with the exception of the facilities on one floor.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

No problem for you, but I'm sure many ladies would have a problem - many women have suffered sexual abuse from men in women's toilets, so your presence may well be unwelcome and triggering.

Sorry Jabba, i should have said, "no problems just nipping into the ladies cubicle if I'm bursting and there's no one in".

 

[Johnny75]

It was a single sex block quite removed from the main building (not sure which gender), and the student council requested it be changed, presumably for convenience, and also for the experience of those that are gender curious (I'm sorry if that's not the right term).

Fors - the kids want it; presumably the school have ran risk assessments; it's all cubicles so the only privacy issue is when washing hands; there are plenty of other traditional bathrooms for those that don't want to use them

Against - woke/trans agenda; girls won't shit/change pads etc if there are boys that can here; slippery slope, rainbows and general security/privacy concerns.

I would be against it as I would be worried about my daughter's safety. Trusting teenage boys is not something I am comfortable with.

Does that make me have an agenda?

 

[Del Woppio]

The 'woke/trans agenda' was (I thought) clearly a separate point to the security and/or privacy points. It was full of "this is that Sam Smith bollocks being rammed down our throats, they won't be happy until everybody is gender neutral penguins" type bollocks