Opinion: GHS bathrooms need attention

Art by Rachel Nearis

RACHEL ALEXANDER, Staff Writer
December 3, 2015

The boys’ and girls’ bathrooms are old and run down at Gloucester High School. The stalls are broken, the toilets are broken, and there is writing all over the walls. The toilets do not flush, and are always overflowing which causes toilet paper to pile up over time.

Soap is often missing, and many soap dispensers are broken. Soap is the most important resource in a bathroom. If there is no soap, then people will not wash their hands and sickness could spread.

Does GHS want to be responsible for possible illnesses that students and faculty could receive? Not having soap is a health concern and putting soap into the bathrooms needs to be a priority.

The girls’ bathroom does not have any paper towels, nor working hand driers. What are people supposed to do when they wash their hands and have nothing to dry them with? It’s crazy to think that a school would omit something as important as paper towels in the bathrooms.

The lack of sanitary disposal units in the girls’ restrooms is unacceptable for a number of reasons. A majority of the stalls in the science wing at GHS are missing these boxes, which are extremely important for all girls to have available at any time.

While some bathrooms have the boxes, there are no bags inside and they are not properly secured to the walls. Sanitary disposal boxes are supposed to be thoroughly cleaned everyday because they pose a health risk.  Without the bags the health risk is increased.

Also, the writing on the walls should be covered up because it is unnecessary and usually contains vulgarity. Some schools use sticky notes to write positive sayings on them and stick them on their bathroom walls. This alternative can put a smile on someone’s face and they can look at that instead of the insulting comments.

So students, if the toilets are clogged and stalls are broken – tell someone. If the soap dispenser is empty and the hand dryers don’t work – tell someone. If the sanitary disposal units are filled, or missing, or broken – tell someone.

Bathrooms should be cleaned daily to keep up with the cleanliness and safety of students. Ask anyone their opinion on the bathrooms and how they feel.  Paper towels and soap should be maintained 24/7 so that people can go to the bathrooms and feel clean afterwards.