<p>Parents and students,
What do you think about co-ed bathrooms at Carleton?</p>
<p>I don't know about them at Carleton, but I know about them at Connecticut College. </p>
<p>As a parent I found it bizarre, but apprently the kids were fine with it.</p>
<p>I just don't understand why, when you have to -- ummmm -- go in the stall and close the door behind you and sit down for a few minutes and maybe make a few noises that you wouldn't make in polite society -- why that wouldn't inhibit you a tiny bit, when the cute person of the opposite sex who lives across the hall is at the sink brushing his/her teeth.</p>
<p>But, the kids didn't seem to mind.</p>
<p>Upon visiting once, there were two pairs of feet in the shower.</p>
<p>So I guess coed bathrooms have their advantages.</p>
<p>wow seriously? it's more home-like I guess. yeah, sounds a little erotic. they don't get any massive complaints from parents?</p>
<p>Not all dorms have coed bathrooms - depends on the number of bathrooms per floor and whether the residents agree to it.</p>
<p>As a parent, I suppose my reaction is "whatever" - it's not something I would want personally, but it's my daughter's life/decision.</p>
<p>Coed bathrooms are the norm at most schools, aren't they? They're not peculiar to Carleton, for sure.</p>
<p>Coed bathrooms for students are not the norm. I think you can find them only in some LACs. For many applicants coed bathrooms are a concern.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ephblog.com/archives/003355.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ephblog.com/archives/003355.html</a></p>
<p>Yeah, they are definitely not unique to Carleton... I have read about a few schools that have exclusively co-ed bathrooms. Carleton does still have a mix of coed and single sex bathrooms.</p>
<p>The coed bathrooms really aren't erotic at all, from my experience. There's actually a STRONG taboo among students against using them for sex-- it's considered rude and disrespectful. Not that it's unheard of, granted, but it's definitely frowned upon.</p>
<p>In my dorm, at least, there are so many bathrooms per floor--something like 7--that it's rare that someone else will even be in there. So even though are bathrooms are all coed (in reality, though not in name... My floor is easy-going about such things and, consequently, people use the bathrooms closest to their rooms no matter the ostensible designation), there isn't that much occasion for awkward encounters. Plus, what's so scandalous about brushing your teeth? There are generous curtains on the showers and urinating is, well, common to both sexes. For most students, the bathrooms are not particularly titillating. It's just a matter of convenience.</p>
<p>Moreover, if one is uncomfortable with the notion of coed bathrooms, I don't really see how one could be comfortable with a coed floor, to be honest... When you're living with mixed sexes, seeing people in pajamas, robes, or various states of undress is a given. If it's embarrassing or difficult to deal with sexual tension in the context of washing one's face at the sink in the morning, it's also going to be hard when Mr. Ultimate Frisbee Stud moseys down the hall wearing naught but a towel... </p>
<p>The bottom line: if you're going for a coed living arrangement anyways, the bathrooms are pretty tame additions.</p>
<p>the co-ed bathrooms shouldn't be a big deal. i go to carleton and live on a co-ed floor. every floor has 4 bathrooms. 2 of them should be designated co-ed facilties, and the 2 others are reserved for single sex use (one for males and one for females, which is which is decided by the floor the first day you start term). so bathroomwise, there's something for people of all comfort levels :) the co-ed bathrooms though, imho, are a lot more convenient and are most people's preference b/c it is one big shower stall with a door that you can lock and half of it is just changing space. whereas the single-sex bathrooms, the showers are a lot smaller.</p>