Our school’s bathrooms have been renovated over the years to students and staff’s liking, but for a variety of reasons, some are still not satisfied.

First off, we usually see the same staff members walking around and monitoring the hallways during class periods, but never around the bathrooms. It feels like there are more security guards around some bathrooms than others. With the vast amount of staff we have, it doesn’t make sense to see them all in one place.

During lunch periods, bathrooms are full of students, but there are fewer people actually using the restroom. Students who use the bathrooms for their intended purpose would find it less awkward if there was little to nobody inside, compared to a bunch of people standing around and talking.

 “There should be a limit to how many people go in the bathrooms. It’s so annoying how people take up the stalls to vape and talk, like bro, we need to pee,” junior Mehek Bhurya said. “And they should close much later, they close too early since club members, athletes, and teachers are still active in the building.” 

Not only do the bathrooms fill up quickly, but they’re also randomly locked. For instance, the third-floor bathrooms are locked up a lot of the time before they are intended to close (3:10 pm). Staff quickly rush the students out once it’s almost time to lock as well, and even before their time to close, which is unfair to the students who need to use the restroom. 

I feel as if every Niles North student at some point needed to use the restroom at the end of the school day, only to find the closest bathroom just to realize it’s locked; you have to then scavenge across hallways just to find one that’s open. 

Reasons as to why they are locked vary, as vandalism is common, and so is ditching classes. Because teachers are aware of students often leaving class, they deny the permission of students – even the honest ones – to use the bathrooms because they assume the worst. 

Last school year in May, one of the female bathrooms was severely vandalized and closed for days. They closed more bathrooms and set up staff near the one by the main gym until school ended that year, but now, there are no guards. As to the other bathrooms, they’re in desperate need of cleaning during the day, even locked because of it. Take the male’s bathroom in the 2400 hallway, which is still out-of-order and locked for a while. Where is its attention?

“The bathrooms are definitely better than they were pre-COVID, but they’re not great. Vandalism is still common, people go there to do weed and vape, and they’re sometimes locked for no reason. More security near the bathrooms would help this problem,” said senior Noah Maxen-Lewis. 

Even staff members can agree. “Off the record, they’re not monitored enough. They need to be monitored a little bit more because kids like to go in there to vape and stuff like that. They all do their own thing in there, so, they should be monitored a little more closely I think,” a security staff member said. 

I believe the blame draws back to the minority of students who abuse the power of going to the bathroom during class. It causes the bathrooms to be a constantly distressing environment for other students who want to use it but feel uncomfortable. Therefore, one way the school can take action is to place one security guard close enough per bathroom, but not to the point where they invade privacy. 

If the bathrooms become too packed or loud, that’s the point where students should be kicked out to allow other students to use them. If a student is genuinely using the bathroom, it’s unnecessary to kick them out – even before the bathrooms close – by staff. Because students are often found doing this, the top floor bathrooms, to begin with, should close by about 4:00 pm. Clubs are almost finished by this time and this way, students can still use the bathroom during 9th period. As for the first-floor bathrooms, they should close around 6 or 7:00 pm, so that way students have access to the bathrooms longer before they leave the building.

If the school takes these possible solutions into consideration, we can help foster a better school bathroom environment, where everybody can feel safe and comfortable.