I think it’s time we have a little potty talk. Northport High School’s bathrooms have quite a few serious issues.

Let’s start in the commons. 

The commons bathroom has been, for what feels like forever, a place of havoc for those of us who just want to go about our business. Open drug use and vandalism occur there, and there needs to be attention brought to it. The biggest problem in the commons bathroom are those who go to use it. To be honest, I shouldn’t even say “use it.” It’s the people who travel in packs to hang out and cause trouble. 

As I mentioned before, the biggest problems in the bathroom are vandalism and drug use. Literally every single time I’ve walked in and there have been more than five people, someone is using or trading something. I don’t want to advocate for stricter security guard presence by the bathrooms—so I won’t—but when ten or more people have been in the bathroom with nobody coming out after twenty minutes, somebody should be suspicious. 

It’s not like it’s hard to tell what’s happening—they do it out in the open and you can hear coughing from outside of the entrance. 

Vandalism is something that’s a lot more difficult to catch someone doing. As we know, people like to commit hate crimes through vandalism here, but more than writing on walls occurs. Whether people decide to cram fifty cookies down a toilet or paper towels in a urinal, cloggings are a common occurrence in the bathroom. 

I don’t understand why this is done. It worsens everything for everyone; we have one less toilet available and have to wait outside on longer lines because we can’t be trusted to enter the bathroom if there’s more than three people.

The commons aren’t where it ends though.

The upstairs L-Wing bathroom is in very bad condition. Of the three stalls there, one has a bent lock and the handicap stall has no door. This creates a huge issue for disabled students, as there is no protection from people walking in, not realizing the stall is being used. The warped lock is a struggle; it takes too long to actually maneuver the lock and unlock it once you are done. 

This bathroom has been in this state since March, and by now I would have expected the problems to be solved. 

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K-Wing bathroom.

In addition to the L-wing, the K-Wing bathroom suffers from the same issue. While there may be no missing door, two of the three locks are broken and the doors are unable to shut unless you’re holding it closed yourself. However, that can’t be done for the handicap stall, which has a broken lock, creating the aforementioned issue for disabled students. 

The gender neutral bathroom next to the main staircase in the commons has issues of its own, although it’s not due to anything being broken. Once you walk in, there’s only a wall separating the toilet from the door. The door doesn’t have a lock, and while I initially thought this was not an issue, I quickly came to realize that anyone can walk in on you anytime.

Vandalism isn’t an issue in these three bathrooms, however I would argue the issue is much worse, due to the fact that it created an atmosphere of insecurity for students, as well as a general discomfort. Although it is the end of the year, I felt it was essential to bring awareness to an issue we all have been putting up with for far too long. 

I’m hoping over the summer, proper changes will be made so that the entire student body is more comfortable doing their business. Until then, A-Wing is always open.