What's the "Flush" with the Bathrooms?

By Yaa Boateng

Would you say that the conditions in Duval High School's bathrooms are inadequate, unkempt, or distasteful? Sanitation in the bathrooms has been a problem for a while, and, if not addressed the problem can degenerate until the facilities are destroyed or permanently locked. The blame does not fall on a specific group or person. The janitors should not be blamed if the students disregard common bathroom conduct, and students should not feel as if they must bring soap, toilet paper, or tissue from elsewhere if there is always a shortage of some sort.
After a careful observation of a lot of the facilities in the school, many conclusions have been drawn. In the boys' bathroom there are absolutely no signs of toilet paper, soap, tissue or their dispensers. It may come as no surprise because the actions of the boys could have been a very important factor in this outcome. One of the janitors from the custodial staff (going by the name of D) elaborates by saying he "was instructed not to place many toiletries in the boys' bathrooms because they use up and abuse the [supplies]." In the girls' bathrooms, there lacks consistency in supplies. There may be certain things the new building bathrooms may have, which the other bathrooms do not have. Like the conditions in some of the boys bathrooms, a number of the girls bathrooms have unbearable smells, not just because they have been used, but there is a certain smell that some bathrooms identify with. Senior Victoria Quartey explains the smells as a "weird cleaner and bleach type of smell," which when mixed with the smell of urine and other things can emanate an insufferable odor. This can call into question whether the bathrooms are cleaned thoroughly or if they have been defiled by the students themselves.
D, from the custodial staff points out that while cleaning the bathrooms he "makes sure the bathrooms smell appropriate," saying that that aspect is the most important thing of cleaning the bathrooms. Many students question, however, how thoroughly the bathrooms are cleaned and have also pointed out that these conditions seem to be better, particularly the bathrooms in the new buildings. Many students prefer those bathrooms over the new older ones, because they're seemingly cleaner and have more toiletries.
"10 minutes" is the overall and average time it takes to clean each bathroom, says D. When asked how long it usually took students to clean their own bathrooms, answers ranged around an hour, and many students doubt whether ten minutes is sufficient.
Teachers, like Ms. Bell, say that "student bathrooms need to be kept clean on a continual basis." This raises the question of whether the students are abusing the bathrooms and if the janitors should be held accountable for that. Senior Greg Cromwell protests, " it's the students fault! The janitors are doing their job and a possible reason for the shortage and lack of supplies/toiletries is the cost deficiency; they rather cut back than see the supplies being wasted." Whether or not the students blame the janitors, the responsibility falls on the custodial staff to make the bathrooms adequate use and on the students to stop vandalizing and abusing the bathrooms.
Possible solutions, some students such as sophomore Abir Chaudhry say could be implemented are; "foam soap (to reduce messiness), toilet seat covers and renewal of supplies more multiple time in the day." This can be efficient, as well as necessary adjustments.

By Jennifer Partridge |  March 10, 2009; 7:43 PM ET
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