Bathroom Bandits

The Bathroom Bandits

Before I begin, I initially wanted to get pictures of some of the repetitively appearing graffiti that's around the school bathroom stalls. I can never get the chance because someone is already in there. This is following the slowly dying ¨devious lick¨ Tik Tok trend where students would take objects from classrooms, gymnasiums, and of course, bathrooms. I can remember having a hard time finding a bathroom with a working soap dispenser because most of them were gone. As amusing as it may have been for some people, I found it just a tad bit annoying, but nonetheless, I just ignored the minor inconvenience that it was.

As the trend died down, more soap dispensers were replaced and my minor inconvenience was gone. School bathrooms have notoriously been known for hosting events that shouldn't be in school, like fights, smoking, and right now, vandalism. It has been noticed by the students and the teachers. The school has attempted to stop this in various ways. I have heard complaints from my peers, friends, and even just around the hallway when I¨m walking around. Teachers have been less lenient and more pressing with bathroom passes. And it just seems like everything has been pressed down on to make bathroom incidents happen less and less.

You have to look at it from both sides too. The teachers and administrators now are forced to spend their free periods in chairs by the bathroom to make sure that there’s only one person in the bathroom at a time. I’ve heard multiple anonymous complaints from teachers that it takes up time from their valuable free periods. And on the other side, students can miss as much as ten minutes of class time waiting to go to the bathroom. A two minute trip turns into an eight minute trip, which leads to questioning by the teachers, an overall negative experience for students who just need to use the bathroom.

It all looks entertaining and funny on our phone screens, but it’s time we come to a realization about how unnecessary it all is. Most people blame the immaturity of the underclassmen, and I agree partially but I also think the opposite. I believe as juniors and seniors we should set a better example for our freshman and sophomores, as they are still trying to figure out how to work through high school. I think that’s a way we can stop these more recent incidents, and ones to come in the following years.

As annoying as the whole experience was for everyone, the situation has died down for the moment. I have heard less and less about it as the weeks go on, so I guess you can say that the crackdown was a success. But it makes you wonder, what will be the next consequence after this? How much more can we be monitored? Who even is responsible for the vandalism in the first place? All jokes aside, I especially encourage everyone to make responsible decisions, for the staff’s sake, and those of us who just have to pee.

By: Jacob Works