Boys restroom use now placed under supervision

With the rise of vaping in campus restrooms, having staff supervise restroom entrances is not an overreach but rather a practical response to protect learning time and student health.

If you have ever used the boys’ restroom this school year, you’ve probably noticed a new change with staff stationed by the entrance. While some students may see this and view it as unnecessary, I believe that guarding or standing in front of the bathrooms is a good thing that should have been implemented long ago.

Students vaping in the restrooms negatively affects a student’s learning and capacity to retain information, as the nicotine that comes from vaping can reduce attention span and the ability to focus. If the school does not take steps to curb vaping, students will begin to spend their time vaping in the restroom instead of learning in the classroom.

Also, many do not realize that vaping doesn’t just affect the individual themselves but also the people around them. Exposure to secondhand vape  mist is a real thing—other students get exposed to traces of nicotine particles and chemicals. Part of the school’s job is to protect student safety, which includes the air that we breathe.

In my personal experience, I use the restroom at school everyday. In my freshman and sophomore years, it was a common occurrence for the bathrooms to smell of nicotine. In these two years, I saw students in the corner of the restroom, actively vaping as the mist rose and dispersed in the air. In these instances—aware of the second-hand potency of these chemicals—I ended up just leaving the restroom. However, this year during my junior year, I have not seen or smelled students vaping. Ultimately, supervision turns our school bathrooms back into what they are supposed to be: safe and available.

Picture this — it’s a sweltering hot day and you need to pee really badly after chugging two 28-oz bottles of water to stay cool. You rush to the restroom, just to find a five-person line to the C building restroom being monitored by a Grade Level Coordinator (GLC.) You can barely hold it in anymore.

I understand that vaping is a real issue in high schools nationwide, but there are easier and more efficient alternatives to solve the problem instead of creating a major bathroom inconvenience for students. The security around the bathrooms often feels intrusive, as faculty occasionally rushes you to finish your duties and exit the restroom as fast as possible. One way this problem can be easily fixed is implementing better smoke alarms in the restrooms to detect flavored air. Another alternative that doesn’t require a negative for students can be harsher punishments for students that get caught participating in said activities.

In my previous two years of high school, using the restroom used to be easy. You just minded your own business and would be on your way. Now, as a junior, I can’t say the same, since boys are now facing a delay in their bathroom waits. While the issue of vaping at school should definitely be resolved, waiting seven minutes to use the restroom is not the way to accomplish that goal.

Overall, the recent implementation of security supervision in our school’s male restrooms only creates hassle. The mistakes of a select few should not result in consequences for everyone, to the point where traffic control is required to use the restrooms. There are many ways to manage this inconvenience to make it less frustrating and tiresome for both kids and administration, so that the bathroom process becomes more efficient for everybody. Overall, while I understand the reasons for enforcing bathroom security, I am confident that we can work to find more convenient and easily accessible alternatives.