Seniors Only

By Nick Pollard

 When it comes down to it, school bathrooms aren’t really a hot button issue that often. Sure, you hear occasional stories that go around the rumor mill, but outside of that there isn’t that much of a discussion about them. Recently however, multiple incidents regarding vandalism have resulted in indefinite closure of most of the bathrooms at NWR. Now if you’re trying to go to the bathroom, you have to walk down to the only open one by the cafeteria, and wait in this never ending queue before it’s your turn. 

This abrupt change didn’t sit too well with some of the seniors, however. On top of trying to make the most of their last year of high school, now they had to wait in an absurdly long line just to go to the bathroom. So a few weeks ago, on their own initiative, a group of seniors elected to open a “Senior Only Bathroom” using an older, rarely used set of bathrooms by the gym. The other day I got the chance to talk to Jack Close about his involvement with the set up, and asked how the whole operation got started. Jack said  “...Me and some friends were sick of the long lines at the bathroom, so we asked Mrs. Ritchie and she agreed to give us our own...” In addition to their own exclusive bathroom, there's also a senior seated outside to check whether someone can go in or not. Jack said this was because “...underclassmen trashed the other bathrooms, so we don’t want them going in there and messing it up again...” 

When asked about his overall feelings of the bathrooms closing, Jack said “...It’s annoying for the student body, but understandable on the school's part...” and that it was a “...harsh but necessary step to take...” It’s also important to remember that your actions speak volumes for everyone around you, so if you’re messing up bathrooms or breaking school property for whatever reason, just keep in mind we all get punished if you do something stupid.

Despite one isolated incident, everyones been pretty successful in keeping watch of who they let in the Senior Bathroom. But, there’s still the problem of someone not always being out there to keep watch/let anyone in. So, if you have a study hall, and want to help out your fellow seniors, feel free to lend a hand and enjoy the exclusive privilege of having a functioning bathroom to yourself.