By Katherine Chen
Newsletter Editor
The student restrooms are surprises to walk into. Sometimes, I find new pieces of graffiti. Other times, I see groups of students walk into the same stall, presumably for illicit reasons. There are three main issues that students need to address.
First, the overflow of people to the restrooms causes long lines. During lunch, students are always standing around, waiting for their friends instead of actually using the restroom. Although this form of loitering may not seem like a big deal, it becomes an issue when restrooms get crowded. The line to the girls’ restroom is almost always out the door during break and the beginning of lunch.
School policy limits us to the downstairs restrooms during lunch because there are not enough security personnel on campus to supervise both the upstairs and downstairs areas. This leaves only three main restrooms for each gender across both the old and new buildings during the busy lunch period. The limited number of restrooms makes it even more necessary that students stop loitering.
Of course, loitering in the restrooms can be innocent. Staying in the restroom to wait for friends may be a thoughtful act. Even so, students should heed how such behavior and lack of spatial awareness can lead to crowding.
Another issue in the restrooms is that some students take advantage of the minimal supervision within individual stalls to vape.
“One of the most important things students can do is report any concerning behavior they see in the restrooms,” Assistant Principal Anthony Chan said. “The more vigilant we all are—along with the support of vape detectors—the better we can deter drug use and help keep our restrooms safe for everyone.”
These recurring drug issues jeopardize the overall student image and increase teacher suspicion toward all students who may spend a longer time in the restroom during class. While most students use the restroom for its intended purposes, teachers sometimes have to expect the worst for student safety.
Third, students’ lack of responsibility affects the overall hygiene of the restrooms and the entire campus. At school, we assume there are others who will clean up after us, so it may feel acceptable to leave things lying around. Isn’t it the custodians’ job to keep the campus clean? This self-centered thinking allows people to remove themselves from the situation and avoid accountability.
In reality, there are only three day custodians and seven night custodians at school who already have to clean up and anticipate day-to-day accidents. Any trash that students fail to pick up because of carelessness and indolence adds unnecessary work for the custodians.
Moving forward, I strongly urge all students to take initiative to improve restroom conditions. Taking simple steps to fix these issues can bring us a long way toward the betterment of our campus facilities.