By Eva Carroll – Staff Reporter

Two years ago, the administration at Jonathan Law made the decision to close off some of the school bathrooms. Currently, there are five student bathrooms at Law, but only two are being used by students. One of these bathrooms is near the new gym on the first floor and the other is upstairs. The reasoning behind this action was to minimize teen vaping at school and to stop the fighting and vandalism that was occurring in some bathrooms.

A sign-in sheet was set up for the bathrooms in which students are supposed to log in their name, time of entrance and exit, and where they came from. By keeping track of who uses the bathroom and for how long, it would be easier to identify vapers who have been reported by other students. By limiting the number of open bathrooms, they would become more concentrated with students. As a result, the chances of a staff member or a concerned student encountering and reporting teen vaping or other misbehaviors would increase.

In theory, this idea does seem effective; however, in practice it is not. While vaping has decreased, this system has failed to completely eliminate teen vaping and other misbehaviors and, over time, has actually created additional problems for students. Due to the inconvenient locations of these bathrooms, using the bathroom takes even longer for students. When students have to use the bathroom during class, more time is taken out of learning. Further, there is sometimes not enough time in between classes to use these bathrooms and still be on time for one’s next period class. 

One solution to modify the current bathroom system is to re-enforce the sign-in sheet. As of right now, the sign-in system has not been enforced properly. Even though teachers do monitor the bathrooms, students have not been giving accurate or complete information on the sign-in sheets. Students will put fake names or just scribble their names so it can not be read. Students also leave sections blank which is an issue because it is much more difficult to pinpoint teen vapers without the full sign-in complete. For example, students will write their names, but will leave the time section blank. It should be mandatory that all students are signing in and if they are not doing it properly, there should be consequences for the student. Maintaining a stricter sign-in sheet will make it easier to identify student vapers and it will also help to prevent students from camping out in the bathrooms as well. A lot of this responsibility lies on the students for not taking the sign-in sheets as seriously as they should. If students are caught not filling out the sign-in properly, there should be a consequence put in place. If a student is caught the first time, students should get a warning. If they are caught a second time, they should receive a more severe consequence. While many students enjoy complaining about the bathrooms, nothing will change if students can’t maturely handle something as simple as signing their name, time in, and time out to a piece of paper.

Another solution to modify the current bathroom system is to install vaping detectors in the opened bathrooms. Even though the bathroom system has decreased teen vaping at Jonathan Law, it has not eliminated it entirely. If administration were to install vaping detectors, the school would be directly notified every time the sensors detected vaping. Vape detectors have become increasingly popular in high schools all over the nation. These specialized detectors closely resemble standard smoke or carbon monoxide detectors. One popular smoke detector brand called Halo has designed its smoke detectors to pick up on smoke, vapor, and THC oil, a compound commonly found in marijuana products. Their sensors even pick up on abnormal and loud sounds such as gunshots, screaming, and aggressive speech. With the installation of these detectors, administration know when vaping takes place and it will be much easier for them to identify students that have been vaping in the bathrooms. Further, these sensors will also eliminate concerns of other bathroom misbehaviors such as fighting, bullying, and shootings. The school dministration can even link the notification from the sensors directly to the teachers who are monitoring the bathrooms so fast action can be taken.

Recently, Hargrave High School in Texas has installed Halo vape detectors in its school bathrooms. Hargrave High School Assistant Principal Robert Murray said, “We have actually had a high percentage of success rate with actually finding the vapes when we get the notification and are able to address it in a timely manner, I want a kid to make a conscientious decision, is this decision worth this? If I get discovered with this, is it truly worth it.” These sensors are the most promising method to secure bathroom safety at Law.

It is understandable to see why some individuals may be reluctant to make these solutions. Creating a stricter sign-in system will be more of a hassle enforce and will require more maintenance to deal with guilty students. Smoke detectors take a lot of money to purchase and install. However, these measures are necessary in ensuring the health and safety of students. The FDA has recently discovered that some lung injuries are associated with the use of vaping products. If putting in that extra mile to get those detectors or to change the sign-in system decreases the use of teen vaping than there is no greater reason not to take action. As a school, Jonathan Law must make sacrifices to ensure the well-being of students. Additionally, once students prove that they can handle to behave responsibly in the school bathrooms currently open, maybe the administration could consider reopening the closed bathrooms. This action will stop the inconveniences the current system has inflicted.