The school bathrooms wouldn’t normally be classified as anyone’s idea of a “fun hangout place.” There may be exceptions to this rule, but the point still stands that most people don’t want to be in the school bathrooms unless they have to.

Quite frankly, they’re disgusting. Some students may think this is subjective, and that could be true. However, saying the school bathrooms are the epitome of cleanliness and perfection would be a complete and utter lie.

“The bathrooms are terrible,” Noor Awwad (‘20) said. “There’s always something broken. But the girls’ bathroom is still better than the boys’ bathroom.”

“The bathrooms upstairs in Building 5 are my least favorite,” Grace Pickens (‘20) said. “There’s always water on the ground and gross stuff in the sink and it’s just gross in general. I go to Building 19’s bathrooms if I can, or just avoid them in general. If I was on the other side of campus, I’d still walk all the way to Building 19 just because they’re newer and the other ones are so gross.”

The reason that they’re so filthy isn’t just the fault of the school staff; it’s the students’ fault as well. In fact, it’s mostly the students’ fault. The trash that somehow finds its way into the sinks and the floors are almost always the doing of careless students.

“Have you ever been to the Chorus bathroom?” Ellen Zapote (‘20) said. “People ball up wet toilet paper or something and throw it up at the ceiling. I don’t know how they do it, but it’s disgusting.”

Another problem that doesn’t stem directly from the student bathrooms’ nastiness is the students who like to camp in there. These students aren’t in the bathroom to actually use it; they treat it as a hangout spot, which creates an inconvenience for the students who actually want to use the bathroom.

“The kids JUULing there every day should get expelled,” Gabriel Lopez (‘20) said. “Kids are constantly JUULing in front of the sink, and I can’t wash my hands unless I wait in line.”

“Some kids use it to skip class,” Awwad said. “It’s super annoying when you combine that with the broken bathrooms. Why do people eat in the bathrooms and then just leave their trash in the sink?” Leaving a drink on the sink by accident is understandable; however, there is no reason to leave an entire upturned salad in the sink when there’s a functional trash can.

Every so often, even feminine products—used or unused—can be found in the sink or on the floor. “There’s literally small receptacle meant for feminine products,” Awwad said, “and it’s right there in the stall.” Putting these products in the correct receptacle shouldn’t be any more inconvenient than throwing it into the sink or on the floor, so there isn’t an excuse.

Occasionally, students even choose to vandalize the walls of bathroom stalls by scratching inappropriate messages and drawings in pen or marker. “Kids write really weird stuff on the bathroom walls,” Zapote said. “Like, why? It’s dumb. People are so stupid sometimes.”