The shrill of unisonic giggles continue in the stall next door. Then comes the screechy, high-pitched laughter after an unfunny comment was made. And then… yep, there it is: the smell of blue raspberry, creamsicle, or something. If I leave, they’ll know I’m here, but I’ve been done for five minutes. Occurrences like these happen daily to so many students at Shorewood, but despite recent efforts, vaping, vandalism, and large groups continue to take over the restrooms.

Crowding 

The passing period seems to be everyone’s favorite time to huddle up in the restrooms, creating lines longer than at Disneyland. The seven pairs of feet that I see under the wheelchair-accessible stall every day are appalling. For many students, spending time in a confined, underventilated room is very appealing, but conversing in a more sanitary space is unthinkable. People deal with crowds on the daily, and must wait to use the toilets until everyone has decided the gossip sesh has concluded. 

Vapes

Vapes have been an issue that has plagued our school for the last few years, but nobody seems to have the right solution. Despite all of the efforts that have been made, the fruity odors continue to contaminate the bathrooms. Junior Harper Emanuel experienced…..recently.  “During the winter formal [last year]l, I was going to the bathroom [and] it smelled very heavily of a certain substance,” Emanuel said. “I walked out very fast because I did not want to get in trouble for something I wasn’t doing.” Instead of waiting a couple hours to take a hit, the bathrooms seem like the hiding place to vape on school campus. 

Passes

There’s a moment between doing your business and washing your hands where the bathroom passes are contaminated by who knows what. It’s true that teachers do need an indicator of whether you belong in the halls or not, but there must be a more sanitary method of doing this. After someone washes their hands, they are forced to pick up the stomach-turning bathroom pass, and they become contaminated once again. The bathroom pass is the perfect way of unnecessarily spreading bacteria and germs, which shouldn’t be this normalized at school. 

Vandalism: 

One of the largest problems with the current bathroom system is the ridiculous amount of vandalism that occurs so often. What good comes from drawing on stall doors and throwing tampons on the ceiling? All it does is cause the custodians a lot of extra hard work and make the walk longer for people who have closed restrooms near their classrooms. All the empty space on stall doors must be really appealing for creative young artists. Their inspirational messages left all over the restroom are very convenient for their peers and for staff. 

There are numerous problems with restrooms at Shorewood, all of which don’t have clear solutions. The sooner they get solved, however, the easier it will be for students and staff to function when needing a place to use restrooms in peace.