Entering the stall, I look to my right and see the words “My mom hates me” written in sharpie on the wall. To my left the wall reads, “Keep Going” in big letters, causing me to chuckle at the immaturity of it all.
Anyone who has ever used the school bathrooms has likely seen their fair share of graffiti on the stalls. In fact, The content of the vandalism ranges from motivational messages to hate speech, if I were to categorize them I would separate them into four sections: religious beliefs, political ideas, the spread of love, and the spread of hate and vulgarity.
From what I have seen, the most prevalent of the vandalism is hateful and obscene, likely written for the sole purpose of rebelling against the school. The juvenility of the content is representative of how immature the act of vandalism is in general, because if the students took the time to actually think about what they’re writing they would realize how ridiculous their words are.
The fact that people never attach their names to their words shows that they don’t really care about what they write and that they don’t want to be associated with their own work. The disappointment I have with the lack of passion the perpetrators have is that it takes away any representation people claim the graffiti has..
All of the content is worthless and fails to actually state any new or unique information. All the graffiti does is create more work for the custodians and other maintenance staff because the vulgar and insensitive wordage must be painted over rather frequently. People should think about how their actions affect the people around them.
Even though some of the words may be considered uplifting or motivational, they’re all still harmful to the integrity of both the message and the school as a whole.
The good intentions of the motivational mush in stalls is removed once you take into account the fact that it is scribbled over a painted stall. Some bathrooms have been painted with multiple colors or shapes, yet even these stalls aren’t safe from the students’ vandalism. The paintings clearly took a lot of time and effort to make, and seeing someone scribble over it with ingenuine messages like “smile” or “keep your head up” annoys me because of how hypocritical these caring messages actually are.
If a student feels an urge to write or draw they should do so on paper in order to prevent representing the school as unruly and crude.
Defacing school property is already bad enough, however choosing to do so in a high-traffic place such as the bathrooms is unhygienic and inconsiderate. Why anyone would want to spend their time touching and writing on the walls of a bathroom confuses me, and I feel that none of the writing has been meaningful enough to be worth ignoring the lack of cleanliness.
Besides the unsanitary aspect of writing on the stalls, I feel the lack of awareness the vandals have for their surroundings is shown by the wasted time they take from their peers.
Having to wait five minutes for an open stall during passing period is one of the reasons people tend to avoid the bathrooms, and knowing that some of the stalls aren’t even being used as intended just adds to the problem.
Even though graffiti and drug usage are two very different issues, they both are abundant within the bathrooms. Both of these problems occur frequently within the bathrooms, likely because the stalls provide a barrier that administrators cannot cross.
Although graffiti is not as serious of an issue as vaping is, it is still making a mockery of the school and the students within. It is important that students voice their opinions and concerns; however, doing so anonymously on the stalls of the bathroom is not the right way to do so.
If a student feels the need to communicate their feelings they should instead speak with a friend or counselor in order to receive legitimate advice. Indulging in your impulses is no way to spread your message.
Other than the graffiti, I feel it important to address the other significant problem that takes place within the bathrooms: drug usage. The odor of weed within the bathrooms has become so prevalent that the two practically coincide with each other.
Administrators have the difficult task of preventing the use of substances inside and outside of the building, and for assistant principal Ashley Mair protecting the wellbeing of every student is always her number one priority when it comes to drugs.
“Our job is to ensure the building is safe and that students have equal opportunity to learn. We bring in the suspected individual for questioning and make sure they are not in possession of any illegal devices.” Mair said.
Dealing with this issue requires more than just punishment because the users have an unhealthy attachment to these substances if they’re unable to refrain from using during the school day. Addiction is a life-altering consequence of drug usage, and by educating students of the effects of their actions schools are able to conquer the vaping issue.
“[What’s important is] making sure they know of the serious and unknown dangers behind the use of vape devices,” Mair said. “Without knowing the long-term impact, young people make choices that could harm their health forever.”
Providing a safe and nurturing environment for students leads more people to look for help rather than just continuing the cycle in fear of punishment. Prioritizing the student’s well-being allows the people who need help to feel comfortable sharing their issues with trusted adults, leading to a decline in drug usage throughout the school.
