Generation Z is the generation that killed smoking!
Well, that was until companies started making flavored options such as weed pens and vapes. Now, smoking is again a problem.
As of October of 2024, it was reported by Li Wang of McMaster University that more than 1 in every 5 high schoolers in the United States “reporting marijuana use at least once over the past month.”
With the increase in the marijauna use of high school students, many schools face the problem of students smoking on school property, namely in the bathrooms. While many schools approach this issue in many different ways, admininstration at Hillcrest have directed more locked bathroom doors, only allowing the students to use the courtyard bathroom.
Hillcrest Dean Teaney says that locking the bathrooms limits vaping and skipping in the bathrooms.
However, this solves nothing; students could still smoke in the courtyard bathroom. On the contrary, the school has created more issues. Teachers and students alike relied on the bathrooms in every hallway and now don’t have enough time to use the bathroom.
I rarely use the bathroom during the school day because the restroom can be packed full of people skipping, meeting up, and smoking. While I have no opinion on what other students do with their school day, it does inconvenience me that the only bathroom available is always full and stinky. When the bathrooms are opened, people flood into there to finally relieve themselves. I can’t use the bathroom in upper orange and still make it to my class in deep yellow on time. This is the case for many students.
It’s not only students that have run into issues with the bathroom. Teachers relied on these bathrooms between their classes. They can’t leave their students alone during class to go use the restroom, and oftentimes the teacher bathrooms are in use during the passing periods.
So, how should the school solve the smoking problem while still keeping the restrooms accessible?
Easy, get the smoke detectors that are in the bathrooms in city schools.
These detectors sense changes in the air quality caused by vaping or smoking and alert school administrators. While these devices may be costly, our school will greatly benefit from their installation.
The schools that have installed these have seen significant decreases in crowding in the restrooms and vape usage on school property. Senior Elizabeth Mason from Lincoln East High School says that since the installation of the detectors, she has seen less people in the bathrooms. Overall, a reported 23% decrease has been reported in the U.S due to a crack down on vaping.
So, why lock all the bathrooms when there’s a more effective method to combat the vaping problem?
