How can we justify no men’s restrooms in the English wing? Half of the men’s restrooms are not available in the school. This needs to stop.

When I walk into the school, I see many interesting things. We have many things to be proud of as Berries. However, the lack of usable restrooms is not something we should be proud of. It is a disgrace.

Restrooms should not be so terrible to use. I understand that restrooms are usually not a serene place. However, they should not be so bad that we have to hold the stall door to use the restroom.

Students should be held accountable for their actions involving the restrooms. Several restrooms are closed because students vandalize and strip the restroom of its essential items. This can be linked back to the popular TikTok trend Devious Licks, which encouraged students to record themselves vandalizing school restrooms.

It is time that we grew up and stopped destroying restrooms as a sport. Students can no longer stand the quality and reality of the restrooms as they stand. Junior Jacob Morrow says that most of the people he knows don’t use the school restrooms for these reasons.

“I don’t even like to go in there. I only go in there if I really need to because it is so horribly bad,” Morrow said. “The school doesn’t even take care of it.”

It is not uncommon for students to complain about the quality of our restrooms. It is also not only the men’s restrooms that need to be solved. The women’s restrooms are also horrible. Junior Angelina Moore said that because everyone has to use the bathroom, they should take better care of them.

“Everyone is destroying it,” Moore said. “Taking away the bathrooms isn’t helping. It’s just making them go to a different bathroom and destroying it even more.”

Although the students are the cause of the issue, school administrators could do more to protect the bathroom from such incidents. If we could have regular restocked soap, paper towels and bathroom tissue, then some of the issues regarding the bathrooms being unusable would stop.

LHS Principal Matt Jones says to tackle this problem, we need cooperation from our entire school community.

“We are taking proactive measures by increasing supervision in areas prone to vandalism,” Jones said. “This heightened vigilance can act as a deterrent. I urge every student to take ownership of their school environment. If you notice anything suspicious, please report it promptly. Your vigilance can make a significant difference.”

We must all remember that vandalism is not a light-hearted offense at LHS. We cannot continue with our treatment of the school bathrooms. It affects everyone.

“Any student found responsible will face severe consequences, including suspension, expulsion, police involvement, and restitution,” Jones said. “We are committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for everyone at Logansport High School and will not tolerate such behavior.”

This story was originally published on LHS Magpie on October 11, 2023.