Socializing in the Stalls

Students ask to leave class to use the bathroom all the time–after all, we all have to go sometimes. But many students are not going to the bathroom to use the facilities. In reality, these students ditch class to gossip and take a hit off a vape. How do we know? There have been dozens of suspensions this year for vaping in the building, and most students are caught when in the bathrooms. More than this, nearly everyone on our Scout staff has witnessed vaping in the bathrooms at Frederick.

Even when not abusing nicotine, students stay in the bathrooms just to avoid class. “There are quite a few students that hang out in the bathrooms,” said Frederick Lead Custodian Andrew Barella. “While I try to do my rounds look in there and say ‘Hey guys, let’s get back to class.’ And they’re just hanging out, screwing around. They either have bathroom passes from teachers and the teachers aren’t really monitoring them about how long they are out of class, or they’re all ditching and hanging out in there.”

While it seems gross to just hang out in a public bathroom, it makes some sense: the bathroom is the only place to get privacy in the school away from the eyes of teachers. Still, when there are a bunch of people just chilling or eating their lunch in the stalls, it can be hard for students who need to use the bathroom as a bathroom to find space. People hanging out in the bathroom is awkward for many students who are just trying to use the restroom–having to constantly walk into restrooms and seeing groups sitting and standing around and inside the stalls and sinks is uncomfortable. Worse, if people are vaping or doing other bad things, they often pressure students who come into the restroom just to pee to not snitch, making them complicit in their activities.

“Not gonna lie I see a lot of people smoking [in Frederick’s bathrooms]. I see a lot of people also in groups and they’re just always talking with each other and hanging out. It’s just weird,” said freshman Neil Morris.