(Prefaced by recognizing this thread is a year old, but still a relevant discussion for our school facilities managers/directors here at CB)
I guess I graduated from of those liberal public high schools, but the only problem we've had with high school dressing rooms has been the republishing of one photo of one student in his boxers onto Facebook. Since then, there's a clear understanding that no phones (since almost every phone these days is a camera-phone) are allowed in dressing rooms. The high school drama department, as a student body, took that very seriously and the students self-enforce this policy.
As a general rule, the dressing rooms are locked except for during events, but that's primarily to reduce custodial problems. Dressing rooms that are locked for two weeks are dressing rooms that don't need to be cleaned for two weeks. The entire arts center is actually alarmed off from the rest of the school during school hours. The people who need to pass from one side of the alarmed doorways to the other have keys for the alarm, but aside from that student traffic into that wing is usually supervised by a director for a rehearsal.
We have not had any problems with inappropriate use of showers. In fact, our last show was Metamorphoses and as the technical director I required everyone in the 40-person cast plus a few people on crew to shower before and after each rehearsal and performance. On one hand, it was to reduce the amount of debris each night that would contaminate and dirty-up the pool. It was also to make sure no one spread any rashes or illnesses through the run of the production. (45 people in and out of a single pool of water each night can become quite the hygienic nightmare if you don't take the appropriate precautions.)
With a large cast plus crew and a good 12-15 days of showering before and after each performance, we had no problems at all. Granted, some people would shower at home and then show up to get their makeup put on; the showers still saw regular use.
As a stagehand/scenic designer, it's nice having a shower on site. I use it regularly on long days so that after I get sweaty, gross-smelling, or have been working with lots of paint or chemicals, I can shower quickly and get some of the sawdust out of my hair before I go home. I keep a change of clothes in my car for just such an occasion, and we keep the dressing rooms stocked with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash (as to avoid a single bar of soap being wiped on many, many different bodies). Although I usually keep some extra shampoo, a bar of soap, and deodorant in my car anyways.
I think it's relevant to point out that for several decades, students regularly used the showers in large, naked groups, at just about every school in the country. While many schools do not require students to shower any more after standard gym classes, many athletes and extracurricular athletic teams still do. For that matter, school locker rooms are usually left unlocked during all hours of the day (unless locked during classes to reduce theft). The only difference between my dressing rooms and the athletic department's locker rooms is that my dressing rooms are cleaner and only have room for one person in a shower at a time while the school's showers are intended to have several people showering at once.
Protect dearly what you will, but the more rules and signs you post, the more students will take that your rules and signs as personal challenges. Also, for the love of everything decent, no parental supervision in dressing rooms. It's one thing to have parents assisting with costumes and makeup, but I've known the people who ironically seem to always end up on guard duty to be some of the creepiest people around -- parental supervisors make students feel more awkward than protected anyways. Supervision may be more necessary for elementary and middle school groups, but high schoolers aren't going to "accidentally wander into the wrong dressing room with their cameraphone out." If someone does, they deserve a good sexual harassment suit, but the threat of this happening is just as likely as someone sneaking into the opposite sex's bathroom or locker room during the school day. Unless your school has a policy in place to prevent that from happening, coming up with your own master plan is a moot point.
I guess I graduated from of those liberal public high schools, but the only problem we've had with high school dressing rooms has been the republishing of one photo of one student in his boxers onto Facebook. Since then, there's a clear understanding that no phones (since almost every phone these days is a camera-phone) are allowed in dressing rooms. The high school drama department, as a student body, took that very seriously and the students self-enforce this policy.
As a general rule, the dressing rooms are locked except for during events, but that's primarily to reduce custodial problems. Dressing rooms that are locked for two weeks are dressing rooms that don't need to be cleaned for two weeks. The entire arts center is actually alarmed off from the rest of the school during school hours. The people who need to pass from one side of the alarmed doorways to the other have keys for the alarm, but aside from that student traffic into that wing is usually supervised by a director for a rehearsal.
We have not had any problems with inappropriate use of showers. In fact, our last show was Metamorphoses and as the technical director I required everyone in the 40-person cast plus a few people on crew to shower before and after each rehearsal and performance. On one hand, it was to reduce the amount of debris each night that would contaminate and dirty-up the pool. It was also to make sure no one spread any rashes or illnesses through the run of the production. (45 people in and out of a single pool of water each night can become quite the hygienic nightmare if you don't take the appropriate precautions.)
With a large cast plus crew and a good 12-15 days of showering before and after each performance, we had no problems at all. Granted, some people would shower at home and then show up to get their makeup put on; the showers still saw regular use.
As a stagehand/scenic designer, it's nice having a shower on site. I use it regularly on long days so that after I get sweaty, gross-smelling, or have been working with lots of paint or chemicals, I can shower quickly and get some of the sawdust out of my hair before I go home. I keep a change of clothes in my car for just such an occasion, and we keep the dressing rooms stocked with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash (as to avoid a single bar of soap being wiped on many, many different bodies). Although I usually keep some extra shampoo, a bar of soap, and deodorant in my car anyways.
I think it's relevant to point out that for several decades, students regularly used the showers in large, naked groups, at just about every school in the country. While many schools do not require students to shower any more after standard gym classes, many athletes and extracurricular athletic teams still do. For that matter, school locker rooms are usually left unlocked during all hours of the day (unless locked during classes to reduce theft). The only difference between my dressing rooms and the athletic department's locker rooms is that my dressing rooms are cleaner and only have room for one person in a shower at a time while the school's showers are intended to have several people showering at once.
Protect dearly what you will, but the more rules and signs you post, the more students will take that your rules and signs as personal challenges. Also, for the love of everything decent, no parental supervision in dressing rooms. It's one thing to have parents assisting with costumes and makeup, but I've known the people who ironically seem to always end up on guard duty to be some of the creepiest people around -- parental supervisors make students feel more awkward than protected anyways. Supervision may be more necessary for elementary and middle school groups, but high schoolers aren't going to "accidentally wander into the wrong dressing room with their cameraphone out." If someone does, they deserve a good sexual harassment suit, but the threat of this happening is just as likely as someone sneaking into the opposite sex's bathroom or locker room during the school day. Unless your school has a policy in place to prevent that from happening, coming up with your own master plan is a moot point.