The Issue of the Locked Restrooms

If you ever happen to find yourself strolling through the halls of Lamar High School, you’ll quickly become aware of an interesting circumstance. While you pass by the restrooms you’ll notice the doors to be shut and if you attempt to go in, you’ll see that the doors will not budge because they happen to be locked at the moment. 

Naturally this prompts the question on why some of the restrooms are locked periodically throughout the day when Lamar has over 2,500 students that certainly will need to use the restroom eventually. 

When asked if they feel the locked restrooms are either good or bad a few students have expressed their annoyance, “I can’t even use the restroom in peace” junior Melanie Flores says.

“I don’t like it. Teachers and staff lock the restrooms then get mad at kids for looking for a restroom,” junior Bonnie Douresseaua adds.

Although of course school faculty may also find it inconvenient but necessary, “I think the restrooms being locked is annoying but the reasoning is valid,” ceramics teacher Riki Atkins says. “If there were less issues with vaping, smoking, and other things that shouldn’t be happening in the bathroom, we wouldn’t have this issue. It’s a safety issue so it’s best to lock them when needed.” 

Unfortunately, there are many students who go to the restroom for reasons other than using the restroom. There are obviously issues with fighting and even worse – vaping. 

The bottomline is the leaders of our school have to make decisions they believe will cut down on disruptive behavior.