Opinion
We Need More Gender-Neutral Bathrooms At NHS.
Connor Federico-Grome
When I was a seventh grader at Kennedy Middle School, there was a mysterious door in one of the science hallways. I never knew where it went. Nobody did. That changed when one day, a new sign was stamped on the door that read “gender neutral bathroom.” This was a big deal for KMS students as it was the first single-stall bathroom for student use in the school, spare for the bathroom in the nurse's office. Its arrival gave students a private place to go number two, without the worry of relieving themselves with other people in the room. From that point on, gender neutral bathrooms grew in popularity. Upon my arrival to Natick High, I was informed that NHS had not only one, but two single-stalled gender neutral bathrooms. Labeled as “student”, they can be found on the second and third floor, across from the staircase directly behind the concession stand. I was happily astonished by this effort, as I was someone who, as a young freshman, was terrified by the thought of using the regular bathroom. Even today, I prefer the single-stall bathrooms as I don’t feel comfortable in the boys bathroom. And so, for the first two years of high school, and even today, that is where I went and will continue to go. I never faced any type of issue accessing one; if the second floor one was occupied, the one on the third floor was sure to be open (or vice versa). However, all of that changed upon the opening of my junior year.
Throughout the fall, and even into today, accessibility has been a big issue for the gender neutral bathrooms. It’s almost frivolous to check if they're open during passing time, as they are both inevitably going to be occupied. A majority of the time, those occupants tend to be in there for every reason besides using the bathroom (if you see what I'm alluding to). For the first few weeks of school I put up with it. I timed my trips to the bathroom to be at what I presumed were the least busy points of the school day. However one day, nature called and I was forced to answer. The most inconvenient aspect of this was the timing. It was 9:30. The start of mask break. Arguably the worst time to try and use the bathroom at school.
Regardless, I headed over to the second floor student bathroom with naïve determination and hope. The doorknob read VACANT! I tried the door and— locked. I head upstairs. OCCUPIED. I do a lap around the third floor and check again. It’s the same old song. I head downstairs, do a lap and check again, crickets. At this point it’s 9:38 and I’m gonna have to be in my next class soon. The question is, will I be able to use the bathroom before then? In a student bathroom, the answer is no. Unless I were to pick the lock, break the door in, throw its occupant out, and leave that situation with anything less than expulsion. So, I made the decision to go in the regular boys bathroom.
I am out of my element and the situation is already uncomfortable. Thankfully, there was nobody in there. I assume the position and begin to relieve myself. I’m not sure what it was that I ate that day, but it was certainly a longer trip than I anticipated. As I’m starting to wrap up, a group of boys enter the bathroom. Presumably in there to get their nicotine buzz, I’m not worried. I'll mind my own business and they can mind theirs. Yet eventually, these boys begin to make comments about the occupancy of the stall. It began as “I know you're in there!!!!” which evolved into “what are you doing in there, bud? Pooping?” which then led to one of them banging on the stall door, in an effort to scare me. Luckily, I have thick skin, and by the high pitched voice and childish banter I assume that it’s a group of sophomores. I was right. I head out, not upset but certainly annoyed. Not only am I annoyed that I had to deal with that, but further annoyed because I know the situation wouldn't've occurred if I had been able to use a single stall bathroom.
As you can see, the problem is clear: the single stall bathrooms are over-occupied by folks who don’t need them. It’s extremely frustrating to see presumably cis people using these bathrooms when they don’t experience any type of anxiety in the normal, gendered bathrooms. These bathrooms are a safe space for Trans, Non-Binary, and Queer students at NHS, infringing on it will certainly impact their school environment and mental health. I’m not the only one who feels this way. I’ve had extensive conversations with friends who rely on the gender neutral bathroom and they are equally as fed up as I am. I’ve watched each of them express the same jaded frustration that comes from being denied a safe school environment.
And this incident is one of many things I’ve observed about the gender neutral bathrooms, another being the fact that teachers think they are entitled to use those bathrooms. I can’t tell you how many times I've seen a teacher leave one of the student bathrooms when the adjacent staff bathroom was open. If that had been done in the reverse and I, as a student, had used the faculty bathroom as a result of no student ones being open, there would clearly have been consequences. On another occasion, a teacher UNLOCKED the bathroom that I was using, simply because I forgot to turn the lock that changed the doorknob from reading “vacant” to “occupied.” There are EONS more students at NHS sharing 2 bathrooms compared to the faculty sharing many more.
We seriously need to expand the amount of gender neutral bathrooms at our school, increasing it to at least three and, in the best-case scenario, four. I’m not here to debate how and where they will be implemented, but I am here to share the truth about the problem. No student at Natick High should be subject to harassment in the bathroom simply because they couldn’t access the one that they normally use.
Natick High, do better.
Animal Circus Ban
TW: mentions animal abuse
Julie Evers
Imagine you’re seven years old and at a fair. After going through tents with baked goods and carnival games, you enter one with a small animal circus. You see pigs racing and an elephant giving rides. You’re mesmerized by the adorable animals and want to join the circus more than anything to be with them. This story may sound familiar to some of you.
Unknown to you, as you leave with the crowd the performance animals are whipped, beaten, and crammed into small cages. Oddly, just as you would do anything to join the circus, the animals would do anything to get out.
I once was that little kid, too. That was until I learned about the horrors that go on behind the happy facade of animal entertainment.
Animals have been exploited for entertainment purposes for thousands of years. As early as 2500 BCE, rulers and aristocrats had animal enclosures called menageries to showcase exotic animals. Entrepreneurs noticed the audiences the enclosures attracted and started traveling menageries, or traveling circuses. Today, circuses exploit animals to make a profit. There is no federal law in the United States that prohibits animal circuses, but I urge you to enact one to eliminate the environment that leads to significant abuse of animals and threatens the safety of circus employees and the public.
A ban on animal circuses is necessary because it will eliminate an industry that inflicts monstrous harm upon animals. Animals do not naturally ride bikes or stand on stools, but through negative reinforcement, they are trained to perform these distressing and unsafe acts. The abuses include horses being viciously choked and stabbed with pitchforks, and elephants being beaten with bullhooks and shocked with electric prods. A leaked video exposed former Ringling Brothers Circus’s elephant trainer, Tim Frisco, using similar abusive techniques on endangered Asian elephants, while yelling, “Hurt ‘em. Make ‘em scream … When you hear that screaming, then you know you got their attention.” This environment causes many animals to develop abnormal behaviors and depression; some even resort to self-harm. Animal circuses travel thousands of miles each year, resulting in their being crammed into extremely hot, poorly ventilated, and unsanitary tractor trailers for long periods of time. Once at their destination, animals are forced to defecate and urinate in their cages. Since 1992, 25 elephants from the Ringling Brothers Circus have died due to these conditions.
As moral creatures, we instinctively recognize merciless harm towards other living things as unjust, so we know that the entire concept of animal circuses and their abuse of animals is unacceptable. Although laws like the Animal Welfare Act, which regulates the treatment of animals in exhibitions, are in place to protect animals, they are regularly ignored by circuses; a ban, however, would eliminate the environment where the abuse occurs.
Banning animal circuses is also necessary to protect animal circus staff members and the public. Due to constant abuse and confinement, some animals act out violently or try to escape. This often results in human and animal casualties, as well as property damage. One notorious example involves an elephant named Tyke. In 1973, Tyke was captured as a baby in Mozambique, as many circus animals are, and sold into an abusive circus where she performed for decades. On August, 20, 1994, Tyke was put in front of a sold-out show in Honolulu, Hawaii to perform after a long transport to the island, but she instead rebelled in response to her mistreatment. Tyke fatally crushed her trainer and severely injured her groomer before escaping. The police ended up killing Tyke by shooting her 87 times in the street, where she fell and squashed a car.
Although the trainer and groomer hurt Tyke, they shouldn’t have been seriously injured and killed as a result. Animal circuses should not be permitted because the mistreatment of animals is a virtual certainty, which is the real cause of this incident and others like it. Not only did the two workers suffer physical trauma, the audience who saw the two men being stomped on and the public who witnessed the bloody killing of Tyke were certainly emotionally injured also.
At the beginning of this writing, I asked you to visualize a youthful, happy memory about an animal circus. Now I ask you to visualize yourself in the stands of Tyke’s final show and the horrific scene you would have witnessed. Animal circuses have been in the United States for far too long, causing harm to animals, circus staff and the public. The time has come to free the shackles of these imprisoned and abused animals. I understand that it takes effort to make a change, but the effort is not great compared to the harm suffered by these voiceless animals. Circuses don’t have to go, but the abusive animal acts must.
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream!
Anthony Bilis-Gruson
Ice cream is one of the world’s most beloved foods; you will struggle to find someone who dislikes ice cream, and if you do, they are probably weird. However, not all ice cream is served the same way and there are many different takes on how to make this frozen snack delicious. After much positive feedback on last month’s pizza ranking, (go back and read it if you haven’t already) we are back, this time to rank the nine main ice cream locations in the Natick, Wellesley, and Sherborn area.
Stay Away:
Hooray! No ice cream locations were bad enough to land in the “Stay Away” section. It has to be said that ice cream is hard to mess up completely, and with no convenience stores on the list like last time, I am confident in saying that there are no ice cream locations that you should genuinely stay clear of.
Wouldn’t Recommend:
Park Street Ice Cream - The time to be positive is over: I would not suggest staying away from any of the locations in this category, but I certainly would not recommend purchasing an ice cream from them either. The first one in this category is Park Street Ice Cream in Natick. As the main ice cream location in all of Natick, located in one of the best spots you could hope for, right in the middle of our beautiful downtown, Park Street doesn't live up to expectations. With a location that great, this is the ice cream that the town of Natick will be judged on. When visitors come to our town on a hot summer day and decide to try the Park Street Ice Cream in the middle of our town center, I am sorry, but they will be disappointed. The ice cream is way overpriced and the simple flavors don’t back up the price tag. The ice cream isn’t rich or creamy, it’s just kind of there, and they have a limited amount of toppings. In the end, it just cannot be recommended.
Aloto Gelato - When finding the different locations for these rankings, there is always one that I stumble across and realize, since when does this place exist? Located on West Central St in Natick, near the CVS and Roche Bros., Aloto Gelato gets this edition’s title of irrelevance. Similar to the Brooklyn New York Pizza in the last ranking, I have simply never heard of this location and that cannot be a good sign. In a terrible spot, located on a busy street near an intersection, it makes sense that this is a less popular ice cream place. I have never heard anyone ever exclaim the idea of going for ice cream at Aloto Gelato, and due to its poor location and clear lack of reputation or branding, I wouldn’t recommend Aloto Gelato.
Natick High School ice cream - Finding itself in the same category as its pizza, I can’t say I would recommend Natick High School ice cream. Half of the time, the ice cream is nowhere to be seen, and contrary to the pizza, Natick High School ice cream is not free. There is a good variety to the ice cream, with a good mix of different types, but let’s be honest, none of them are that good. They either melt in thirty seconds and make a mess, or are just too frozen to even make a dent with our plastic spoons. However, I think it’s safe to say that as a Natick High School community we are happier to have this ice cream than to have none at all, and therefore Natick High School ice cream falls into the “wouldn’t recommend” category.
Meh:
C&L Frosty - The biggest problem with C&L Frosty is a common problem with locations that end up in the meh category: there’s nothing special about it. It’s not bad ice cream, and there is a wide variety of flavors along with some good toppings, but is it good enough to make me really cherish going to C&L Frosty? No. The location is okay, in downtown Sherborn, but it can be a pain to get in and out of that parking lot. There is only one window to buy the ice cream from, and the lines are often long. Mostly, as stated before, what is special about C&L Frosty? I used to think it was the green monster flavor but if you are not a six-year old kid who loves baseball, then I think you’d agree that C&L Frosty is just meh.
Orange Leaf - For our next location, we commemorate a fallen soldier: Orange Leaf. Many would argue that Orange Leaf does not count as ice cream but instead as frozen yogurt, but as it has gone out of business in all but two locations in Massachusetts, with both the Natick and Needham locations now closed, Orange Leaf must be on the list in order to not be forgotten. At its height, Orange Leaf was always really good, and what made it worth going to was the toppings. There was always such a wide range of toppings with everything from fruit to chocolate, and with no limit of how many you could add, it was always exciting going to Orange Leaf. The actual ice cream/frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf was also good, although a bit bland, it was always fun putting the ice cream in the cup ourselves, and again, the toppings were what really spiced it up. At its peak, Orange Leaf was way higher than meh but with significant factors such as it questionably even being ice cream and the fact that the company has basically gone out of business has left a bad taste in my mouth and it makes Orange Leaf painfully fall all the way down to meh.
Truly Yogurt - Although their name might throw you off, Truly Yogurt does serve ice cream—ice cream that is most certainly meh. Similar to C&L Frosty, Truly Yogurt is just your average ice cream place, with nothing really special going for it—and they only take cash, no debit cards! If you only looked at the twenty-person line that somehow always appears outside of Truly Yogurt you’d think it would be much better than it is, but after tasting, you realize the lines really just come down to slow service and a good location.
Pretty good:
Ben and Jerry’s - Getting down to the big boys now, we start with locations that definitely serve above-average ice cream, and that you won’t be sorry going to if you find yourself craving ice cream. We start with Ben and Jerry’s, the classic. Everyone knows Ben and Jerry’s, as it is one of the more famous ice cream establishments in the U.S. Ben and Jerry’s is definitely good, with a huge—and I mean huge—selection of flavors and toppings, along with milkshakes, banana splits, chipwiches, and more. However, although Ben and Jerry’s is very good, it is slightly overrated. They choose to give their flavors ridiculous names that are not that funny, and that in the end just confuse the customer about what the flavor actually is. I also find Ben and Jerry’s to be insanely filling, and I usually find myself coming out of Ben and Jerry’s in a worse state than when I walked in.
Dairy Queen - Another classic, one that everyone knows and loves, is Dairy Queen. It must be said that Dairy Queen is really good, and to be honest, they were unlucky to not grab the number one spot. Their ice cream is delicious and they have items that are not only really good, but are special to Dairy Queen. For example, Blizzards, which are my personal favorite, have at least ten really good flavors to choose from. Also, their cones that come with the hot fudge that hardens and breaks deliciously when you eat it. Honestly, Dairy Queen doesn't do a lot wrong, although they could definitely improve their actual ice cream, because if you are not a fan of blizzards or cones, Dairy Queen isn’t really the place for you. Also, the biggest factor that holds Dairy Queen off the number one spot is that they are closed for basically the entire year. Just because it’s cold outside doesn't mean I’m not still craving ice cream! Change that, Dairy Queen, and maybe I'll reconsider.
The Best:
J.P. LICKS - Finally, we have reached our champion, the location that is awarded the luxurious title of being the king of ice cream in the Natick, Wellesley, Sherborn area: J.P. Licks. This might be controversial for some, but in my opinion, it was clear as day. Located in downtown Wellesley, J.P. Licks is just a quick drive from Natick, and is never too crowded. The hours are good, it’s not cheap but it’s worth it, and the place is always inviting. They have tons of flavors to choose from, along with amazing toppings, such as marshmallow sauce, a gift from God. What really separates them, though, is the actual quality of their ice cream. It is hard to describe in words, so you should definitely try for yourself the sheer quality of J.P. Licks ice cream. It is creamy and rich, it melts in your mouth, and doesn’t leave you feeling heavy like Ben and Jerry’s does. It puts a smile on your face with every bite. Not to mention the milkshakes and pastry items. It is clear that the champion has to be J.P. Licks.
Thank you for reading my article, once again all of these rankings are subjective, and I invite you to debate me on the topic of ice cream anyday.