A single mother has expressed outrage on social media after her son was berated in the Springwood Aquatic centre bathroom, where he was accused of being too old to be in the women’s change room.
Single mum Liv Ali had taken her eight-year-old son and two nieces to Springwood Aquatic Centre; when going to use the change rooms, an elderly lady barged into her son’s cubicle and began yelling at the boy.
“I’m a single mum and was by myself. An old lady went into my son’s shower cubicle aggressively and yelled at him that he is too old and to get out of the women’s bathroom. My son was very scared,” Ms Ali said.
Early childcare educator Alesha Martin has worked in the industry for over 13 years and has seen policy and procedures regarding the safety and protection of children change, and she agrees that restrictions need to be in place but with consideration for the development of children.
“I do believe there should be age restrictions, although if a child is disabled or has a disability and requires extra help, they should be provided with a disabled bathroom that only allows one person and carer/parent in at a time. That’s why there should be a policy in place relating to a disabled change room. To protect the dignity and rights of all children,” Miss Martin said.
Springwood Aquatic centre has an age limit of seven for children accompanying their parents into bathrooms of the opposite sex. Parents of the Springwood community share differing opinions and believe that an age limit doesn’t represent all children at all stages.
“As a mother of a special needs son, I would say 10,” Springwood mum, Amy Mumford said.
Policies regarding children need to be flexible to the individual circumstances of the child, Miss Martin said.
“I do believe there needs to be a lot more flexibility in policies and they should be created by people who work and are aware of the industries etc, not someone who just sits behind a desk and doesn’t have true knowledge,” she said.
One age restriction does not account for the different developmental rates of all children at the same age, nor does it consider the flip side of sending for example a seven-year-old boy into the men’s room alone.
“My child’s risk of SA in the men’s bathroom unsupervised trumps any grown woman’s discomfort at a little boy being in the women’s bathrooms,” Springwood mum Kate Vincent said.
