As we grow up, the ability of us to properly go to the bathroom is a significant step into the transition between a fully dependent baby and a semi-functional member of society. When our parents signed us up for any kind of day care, potty training was one of the main requirements in order to be able to attend these institutions. Here at Millard West, it is a shame to notice that some Millard West students have lost their ability to use the bathrooms in the proper way. Vaping, appalling graffiti, as well as overall uncleanliness make our restrooms inconsistent with the overall high standard of Millard West.

The majority of the times I go into a bathroom, the stall is in some way needlessly unclean or unusable. Most of the time I find toilets with urine or feces on the seat as if whoever created this mess has zero skill in aiming in the most practiced activity a human can do in their lifetime. Other times, the toilets are simply just clogged with multiple rolls of toilet paper that make it unusable for the rest of the day. Every once in awhile, the students who performs these humorless and  time-wasting wrong doings get creative. On one of my trips to the bathroom, I was stunned to find a whole piece of the bathroom’s mirror… inside the toilet. By this point, it is almost impossible to be surprised by any of the disasters that are made in our washrooms.

This is frustrating because most of the time, I have to take time out of my bathroom going experience to clean these stalls just to use them. Actually, no one should have to take this much time out of their day to clean a bathroom, because these kind of calamities should not happen in a building filled with upcoming adults. Janitors should not have to their time wasted by having to clean up purposely clogged toilets or broken appliances. The students who commit these acts are also wasting their time by losing unnecessary amounts of class for something that has no positive outcome for anyone else.

The recent vaping epidemic has also become a source of bathroom inconvenience and misuse.  There have been countless times where I’ve had to wait on someone to get out of a stall not because the person in the stall was using the toilet, but because they were vaping. At times it has gotten to the point where I feel awkward going to the bathroom for its intended purpose instead of blowing clouds.

This year, Millard Public Schools is pushing the #BeKind campaign. Through this campaign students and staff are encouraged to be kinder to ourselves and others. It has stretched into sports events regarding how we treat students at other schools as well as making sure that students represent the school in a positive light through Wildcat style & pride. Being able to properly and cleanly go to the bathroom is a skill we should’ve stopped having to learn when we were toddlers. Although I know it is hard to talk about, I believe we need to do better in not just being kinder to the people around us, but our school’s appliances which people have to take care of and rely on for basic humanly functions.

Although it doesn’t say it in the handbook, high school requires potty training, too.