I have no doubts that I am not the only person at PSHS who is bothered by a number of issues related to the behavior of some select students in the first, second and third floor boys bathrooms. I don’t see why anyone who has the slightest amount of human decency would not be bothered by the littered vaping cartridges and packaging that are being left lying about, god forbid they encounter the vapers themselves, breathing toxic smog which nobody should be breathing in, huddling in mass during passing to get a hit. Other than that, more problems that plague the bathrooms include them being overpacked even with the new E-Hallpass system in place that is not entirely successful at preventing this issue, other litter left on the floors and urinals unrelated to vaping, and an issue that I despise the fact that we live in a world where it exists most of all: people walking out the door without washing their hands. I have seen it happen, and I shudder to think about how prevalent the issue really is.

May I need to explain why these are problems? Sanitization is a goal that nobody should be embarrassed to strive for, and bathrooms require more sanitization than most places, so it is detrimental to have what seems like so many people working against the cleanliness of a place that everyone must use. So why don’t PSHS staff do more to combat these issues? Other than E-Hallpass, nothing is being done about problems related to the bathrooms. Sure, there are staff stationed outside the bathrooms but they seem to me to have no concern about what actually goes on inside, at least not when I stroll by the area, which is frequently. I never hear of a student being caught vaping, either legitimately reported by a teacher or by gossip. I don’t even know whether anyone else besides me and the perpetrators are aware of the hand washing issue. Ultimately, it is clear that more action must be taken to make the bathrooms a cleaner and much more tolerable place.

I have thought about how to fix these issues over and over again, always reaching the same conclusion. The only way to keep the bathrooms vape-free is to have a teacher or other staff stationed there at all times, and not just to look after the bathrooms, but to keep track of who is going in and out. If a student is staying in the bathroom for too long ( I’d say about 15 minutes ) the teacher should go in and check on them. If the student really is going about their business on the toilet, they should not be bothered, but in the much more likely case that they are in the bathroom to vape or have time on their phone they should be sent back to class. Vapes should be confiscated. Repeated offenses should be written down so the school has a record of who is most likely to be breaking the bathroom rules. Since passing is when bathroom occupancy is at its highest, it is also the most likely time for students to be misbehaving. While it could be argued that passing is the best time for students to go to the bathroom, the vast majority of them are just there to talk and some to vape, so bathroom occupancy should be limited during this time, and teachers should make sure the only students going in are actually using it as intended. Finally, I believe a system should be put in place to enforce hand washing. Teachers working on bathroom duty should be required to inspect students’ hands to see if they are wet before having them dry their hands and go on their way. Students whose hands are dry should be sent back to wash them. Repeated offenders should also be written up. Some may say these rules are draconian, but PSHS isn’t a daycare. These students are going into the real world soon, so they should be held to the highest of standards.