Utah High School Removes Bathroom Mirrors to Combat Tardiness and Vandalism

A high school near Salt Lake City, Utah is one of the latest to remove the mirrors from its restrooms in an effort to cut down on students showing up late to class.

Kearns High School removed the bathroom mirrors last month. According to school officials, students were "spending too much time in the bathroom," which was taking away from their academic time.

Granite School District spokesperson Luke Allen told the Salt Lake Tribune that its schools can, at their discretion, choose to remove the bathroom mirrors, and that some of its schools already have.

He warned that when students start lingering and congregating in the bathrooms, it can "lead to numerous issues, including overcrowding, tardiness, and vandalism."

While the ban wasn’t in place long before the end of the current academic year, assistant principal Jeremy Smith said he’d already noticed the difference.

“It has helped prevent absenteeism and vandalism in the bathrooms,” he told the Salt Lake Tribune.

Students have not been as receptive towards the move, however.

One junior, Habib Magana, told the Salt Lake Tribune that the school's decision was "horrendous" and makes her an her fellow students "feel self conscious."

Another tenth grade student agreed, saying: “It feels unfair because mirrors help you feel more confident throughout the day. Without the mirrors you don’t know how you look.”

Allen told the paper that mirrors are still up in the school's locker rooms, and that any student who feels as though they need a mirror can either request access to one or bring a compact mirror.

More changes are on the horizon for students at the school, however.

Beginning on July 1, a "bell-to-bell" cellphone ban with be implemented that keeps in line with a 2026 Utah law that restricts youth social media use during the school day, meaning students won’t even be able to check their appearance on their phone camera.

Kearns High previously allowed cellphones during breaks from classes, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

In 2024, Southern Alamance Middle School in Graham, North Carolina, made the decision to pull its mirrors from its bathrooms.

Administrators at that school noticed that students were lingering in the bathrooms so they could use the mirrors to shoot videos for TikTok.

It's easier for a student to film themselves and their friends using a mirror, so the school's bathrooms became backdrops for videos.

According to the school, the scheme worked.

“Since removing the mirrors, we have seen a drastic decrease in bathroom visits from students asking to be excused just to make videos,” Les Atkins, a spokesperson for Alamance-Burlington schools, told Education Week in 2024. “We strive to limit distractions so students can focus on learning.”