It’s late morning at Loy Norrix High School and I am sitting in class working ever so diligently, until I feel that uncomfortable pressure on my bladder. The time has come for me to use the bathroom. Once given permission by a teacher I rush to the bathroom as quickly as possible, only to find the door is locked. I then quickly run to the next bathroom, feeling lucky as I am finally able to enter. I open a stall and see, in the most PG explanation, an explosion in the toilet. I rush to the next stall hoping that now is my time. Instead, someone has decided to put the soap dispenser in the toilet. No, this was not a bad dream. In fact, this isn’t even a rare experience here at Loy Norrix. For many students it is, unfortunately, an everyday occurrence.
“The overall hygiene and uncleaniness of the bathrooms must result from immature students that haven’t been taught how to function like a normal person, especially in the bathroom,” said Senior Ciara Baker.
Despite my many concerns for the bathrooms, Many students are frustrated with the overall appearance of the bathroom as well. Although the janitors clean up the bathroom every night, it has seemed that everyday, there are students who do not know how to appropriately use the bathrooms. One of the greatest examples of bathroom mishaps is girls bathroom in the C wing. Besides the usual explosions in the toilets, the bathroom is missing something rather essential to my primping needs, mirrors. With situations like this and many others, faculty has resulted to locking the bathrooms in hopes to control what goes on in them.
“I think it’s excessive to lock the bathrooms,” said Baker. “That doesn’t allow people who are using the bathrooms correctly, to actually use them when needed.”
Locking the bathrooms does limit those delinquent students from skipping class, but many students aren’t seeing its effects in the overall quality or accessibility of the bathrooms. It has come my attention that it appears that 95 percent of the school population is getting punished for the work done by the other 5 percent. This is not fair, as many students do understand the function of a bathroom  and are not there to fool around. To help students accommodate to these bathroom restrictions, teachers are giving students keys as part of their pass to the bathroom or even calling security to their room to escort them. This bathroom charade has not only angered students, but has upset teachers as well.
“I think its absurd that we punish 95 percent of the students because we seem incapable of controlling the other five percent,” said history teacher, Art Williams. “If I let students go to the bathroom, they are gone for an extended amount of time because they are looking for an unlocked bathroom or a security guard to unlock it for them,” Williams said.
Since students cannot fix this anomaly with just words, we must begin to reflect our feelings in actions. Please remember the proper etiquette in using the bathroom and use it for its purpose. Don’t forget to flush, conserve the toiletries, clean up after yourself, and use soap, so together we can make our school bathrooms a more welcoming place.