STAFF EDITORIAL
In honor of Student Press Freedom Day, Feb. 22, the Crimson Chronicle publishes its first staff editorial of 2024.
Restrooms are a necessity. The superintendent says schools can’t be shut down for various reasons because we provide needed food to students. Don’t we need to provide restrooms for the entire school? One open restroom for boys and one for girls is not enough for more than 1,000 students. Restrooms are as essential as food. Is it not a safety hazard if students can’t get to a restroom in a timely manner?
Restrooms are routinely closed when students are smoking, setting off the fire alarm, tagging the walls, or most recently, setting off fart bombs. At various times, restrooms in the TCA building, the SAS building, and the arts room have been closed.
When a student goes to a nearby restroom only to find it closed, he or she has to walk to another building to find an open restroom. Some teachers set a 10 minute limit, or don’t believe students when they come back explaining the restroom was closed. What if an accident happens?
Administration may say that some students abuse their restroom privileges as a way to get out of class or destroy school property. But closing the bathrooms does not solve the problem, it just makes the ditchers find another spot. It also punishes those who actually need to take care of business.
Just like providing breakfast and lunch, providing open restrooms is an obligation that we should take seriously. More time spent looking for a restroom means less time learning in class. Also, we hear a lot about how school is a “safe space.” If students are to feel comfortable in class, they need access to restrooms.