What started as a fire safety measure has spiraled into a debate about privacy and social interaction inside China’s crowded college dorms.

To some, they’re a fire hazard and an “invisible wall” that is destroying social interaction on China’s college campuses. To others, they’re a final refuge in an intolerably crowded environment.

This week, students across China have been locked in a heated debate about an unexpected issue: The makeshift curtains that many young people hang around their dorm room bunks.

In China, students generally live in dormitories where four to eight people share a room. So as to give themselves a bit of privacy — and shut out unwanted light — in these often densely packed spaces, many students choose to erect makeshift curtains.

But universities are increasingly banning the practice on safety grounds. Some also argue that the curtains are destroying social life on campus, as students are literally walling themselves off from each other.

Curtain bans have been coming thick and fast in recent weeks. On March 27, Xinjiang Medical University announced that students were now prohibited from hanging curtains, as did a department at Gansu Minzu Normal University. The same month, Hebei Zhangjiakou University launched a special campaign to remove curtains from its dormitories.