Maryland School Removes Bathroom Doors To Combat Student Vape Use

In a bid to combat student vaping on campus, one Maryland school has gone as far as to remove some of its bathroom doors.

Broadneck High School in Maryland’s Anne Arundel County has reportedly taken the somewhat unusual step of removing the doors from some of their bathrooms in a bid to discourage vaping and smoking on campus, which is prohibited.

The decision, while perhaps strange to some, follows in the footsteps of a rise in student conduct violations in the school’s bathrooms, a spokesperson for the school district, Bob Mosier, explained.

Initially, the high school installed doorstops on the exterior bathroom doors, leaving the doors on stalls untouched and in place. But after the doorstops were, in the words of Mosier, “kicked off,” the school decided to completely remove the doors. Again, while leaving the doors on the stalls intact.

Asked by WJZ whether the move to remove the doors may seem extreme, Mosier told the news outlet that “it may seem extreme” on the surface, but it’s actually the result of two sets of “irresponsible actions” that began with smoking and vaping and ended with the doorstops being kicked off.

“I think if you’re looking at it on the surface it may seem extreme but it is the result of two sets of what I would term irresponsible actions. First the smoking, vaping and use of Juuls which are clearly violations of the code of student conduct, and second, when the school sought an intermediate remedy, the doorstops were kicked off. And so we are where we are.”

Juuls, for reference, are liquid nicotine vaporizers (or e-cigarettes). While their manufacturer, Juul Labs, has clearly stated that their Juul brand vaping products are intended only for adults, various reports have made clear that youths are still managing to get their hands on them and in some cases, bringing them to school and using them on campus.

Notably, Broadneck High School is the only school in its district that has removed the doors from its bathrooms.