Karen Pickering

Spend my days outnumbered by a 9 year old, 5 year old twins and a massive cat with epilepsy. From beautiful Co. Down; living in the also beautiful Co. Wicklow.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky We're in Ireland (as is the secondary school being discussed). There are 2 preschool years then 8 years in primary (junior and senior infants then 1st-6th class). Most girls are 12 in 6th class with some turning 13 during the year.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky Girls in 6th class are 11-13 so yes, some of them have started their periods. A couple even younger.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky Hopefully not but if we can find a way to deal with that in the primary school where toilets are at the back of each classroom I'm sure we'll find a way to deal with it in secondary.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky Antisocial behaviour can be an issue anywhere, that's why toilet design like this has the sink areas open to the corridor so they can be monitored. The vast majority of teenage boys who see a sanitary bin will ignore it or think it's horrible and won't want to go near it.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky The onus is on the person making the claims to back them up with evidence. You have pasted an alleged story about a public toilet in a different country and some hearsay about I presume single sex toilets being locked due to antisocial behaviour in schools.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@puddleglum__ @lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky I'm sure if the students have an issue with the set up they will make their voices heard as they are encouraged to do in Educate Together schools.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky Okay, so exactly what do you think teenage boys are going to do if a sanitary bin happens to be in a toilet cubicle with them?

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@puddleglum__ @lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky The toilets are in completely enclosed cubicles, it's not like someone can look in and see if you have a period or not. My old workplace had mixed sex bathrooms, not once did I feel weird about throwing a pad or tampon in a bin.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@puddleglum__ @lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky I guess there's fetishes for all kinds of things but I really don't think that is going to be a massive issue in Irish secondary schools and I also can't see teenage boys wanting to fish around in sanitary bins for a prank.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@lanepacer @WendyMissons @BirdyBooky Why? What do you think they're going to do with them?

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@tomdoorley @revillemark Yes, definitely a change for the better in my opinion.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@revillemark @tomdoorley Single sex schools account for around 10% of national schools and a third of secondary schools. The last single sex secondary where I live is turning co-ed this year.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@NiecyOKeeffe I love Gremlins! The first time I saw it was on a school trip when I was about 10 and the teachers put it on on our last night. Just imagine the parents' WhatsApp groups if that happened now.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@MetEireann Wicklow is mentioned here under the orange warning but the app and website say yellow so was this a mistake?

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@NiecyOKeeffe He is an ignorant man but I think his hearing has also deteriorated with age and he's too vain to wear an aid.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@UFCFanatic99 @CB__2022 @MaiaDunphy I guess my point is we've seen so many courtroom dramas with devastated families. We can imagine their grief and how their lives have been torn apart so I don't think they needed to explicitly show that in this particular show. The makers certainly gave us a lot to think about.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@UFCFanatic99 @CB__2022 @MaiaDunphy That's not the story this programme was telling though. Again, we know how devastating it all would have been for Katie's family. I don't think we needed to see Jamie again either; this ending shows the lasting effects of what he did on everyone around him.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@MaiaDunphy We can imagine the devastation of her family and have seen that side played out so often on screen. We rarely see the impact on the perpetrator's family and how it spreads out to their friends, neighbours, even the professionals working working on the case.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@CB__2022 @MaiaDunphy There wouldn't have been a courtcase, he was pleading guilty. All that's left would be sentencing which wouldn't really have added to the story.

[Karen Pickering @pickerik]

@IrelandMeda @ronnies_skull @MichaelsCoDub It didn't. It's a fictional story inspired by several cases.