Have the SSHS Bathrooms Improved?
By Jacob Marbach (12)
jacob.marbach@fwcsstudents.org

January 31, 2023

South Side High School has experienced many problems throughout their bathrooms. From kids using them to hideout and pass time, to vandalizing things just because it isn't theirs. Recently things have gotten out of hand. For example, the year of 2021-22 there were no doors on the bathrooms because of irresponsible people. Would you want your personal privacy invaded because of someone else’s actions? South Side High School, we can do better as a whole to have a safer bathroom environment.

In 2021, Southside introduced a new club called the Peacemakers, the club promotes non-violence and well being welcome for anybody to join. The peacemakers staff focuses on situations involving the bathrooms and has helped better the standards of the bathrooms. The co-leader of the peacemakers, Chris Lahr, has single handedly made the biggest impact throughout the years.

“The goal is to get people to think about the bathrooms, because you can’t change the culture unless you’re aware of the culture. The change is ultimately going to come from the students, the students must make the difference,” Lahr said.

He keeps the kids on track, promotes non-violence for the peacemakers, and you can talk to him about school or personal life situations. Lahr said, “Because there’s so much violence happening in the bathrooms we have to take these precautions, for example the doors and the pass system.” This is why the club was started, to build a community to help South Side grow to be a better school in any way, not just the bathrooms.

Many people believe that the peacemakers are making an impact. For example, English teacher Denise Oaks, a South Side veteran who has had lots of experience with the kids here shared, “I have had so many students report negative things happening so I can address it to the office."

She then explained, “The seniors are stepping up, and stopping the lower grades from doing bad things.” Before the club, there were no rules or restrictions to the bathrooms and the staff couldn’t keep up with all of the incidents happening. Now that there are people who want to make a positive change, South Side has made progress.

From a students perspective, these things might not mean much compared to the faculty, they are less worried about it because it isn't their responsibility. But why does the whole school get punished if only a fraction of the people are responsible? “I think if the doors are put back on, the activity will go back up so i think keeping the doors off for now is the best idea to contain the situation,” James Horner (12) said.

From a student that does what they’re supposed to do, they have to go through things like bathrooms without any doors, and a restricted amount of times they are allowed to go to the bathroom. Overall, the staff has been trying to track down these particular students that are irresponsible. For example, now you have to sign out on a google form before using the restroom, so they have an easier time seeing who goes when, and how many times they go. Overall, South Side High School has shown an impact, the environment of the bathrooms have improved since the past.

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