The school bathrooms are a carnival of destruction.
From missing soap dispensers to broken doors, the conditions of some bathrooms force many students to consider if they’re just better off holding the urge to urinate until the end of school.
It’s expected for restrooms accessible to thousands of students to be not on the luxurious side. But there should be a standard for restrooms to be decent enough for students to not go from one to another searching for a toilet and sink that actually work.
Last month, an issue with the toilets being backed up caused flooding in the main building’s first floor. Not only was water spilling out bathroom doors but water leaked into nearby classrooms.
Though the school was able to act quickly, the fact that it even occurred at all was a large inconvenience for students and teachers at the time. In addition, students in the main building who needed to access a bathroom were instructed to go across campus to find another available bathroom.
A portion of the main building near the bathrooms were completely blocked off, causing students and staff to find alternative routes to and from classes.
Having a school with thousands of students is reason enough to anticipate the possibility of flooding from excessive use of toilet facilities and flushing. For the bathrooms to flood and spread across the first floor within minutes shows the school failed to expect this consequence by not taking precautions prior to the incident that could have prevented it.
Furthermore, the many flaws and broken amenities are a daily issue for students.
Doors that don’t close properly make it much more difficult to comfortably use the bathroom. Broken sinks and missing soap dispensers basically discourage proper student hygiene. Consistently empty toilet seat covers, along with toilet paper that runs out within the first couple periods, are reason enough to ultimately hate going to the bathroom on campus.
The school should not allow this to be a persistent problem. This can be solved by having consistent monitoring of the restrooms to ensure that everything is in working order.
Staff can be alerted if there is a lack of any restroom necessities so they can be replaced or fixed immediately.
Whether it’s just a missing soap dispenser or an overwhelmed pipe system, issues like these must be addressed and solved quickly with further precautions taken to be prevented in the future.