A common complaint amongst Stamford High School students is the poor condition of our bathrooms. Students of both genders have reported running into all kinds of disasters in the school facilities, such as flooded sinks, unflushed toilets, or empty soap dispensers. As students, we feel that we deserve better.

Imagine this: you’re taking a quick bathroom break between classes and you’ve just finished washing your hands. You begin turning the handle on the paper towel dispenser only to find it’s empty. Now what are you supposed to do? Your hands are soaked! You could just wipe them off on your jeans, but what if there were a better way?

This bathroom catastrophe would be no more if Stamford High were to install hand dryers in place of paper towels in the bathrooms. The days of undried hands would be no more! Not only would we, as students and restroom goers, benefit from this update, but it would also be great for the environment!

Thirteen billion pounds of paper towels are used each year. According to The Energy Co-Op, “If Americans reduced the number of paper towels they use by just one per day, we would divert 571,230,000 pounds of paper waste each year.”

This just goes to show that a little effort goes a long way! The installment of hand dryers may be a small change, but it could have a huge impact.

Let’s take another scenario: you’re about to wash your hands; you reach over for the soap, but alas, the soap dispenser is empty! This disaster is all too common. Many students have reported that the new building women’s restrooms have been out of soap for almost a month, as of late March.

With the high frequency of this calamity, it is no wonder students get sick so frequently. When you don’t wash your hands with soap and water you can accumulate germs on your hands, and as a result you can infect yourself by touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Of course, being germ-free is basically impossible, but washing your hands with soap and hot water does reduce the germs and bacteria that build up on your hands throughout the day. Without soap, Stamford High School is essentially a petri dish.

Not to mention, before one even gets to washing their hands, some restrooms in the school, particularly the bathrooms across from the library, are missing doors, locks, and even toilet seats! How can students be expected to use these facilities if they are in such condition?

As students, we deserve much better than this. Stamford High School’s bathrooms should be updated and better maintained. While the stereotypical high school bathroom is not known to be the most hygienic place, our’s should strive to rise above the standard.

While we, students, deserve better, we must also recognize that it is our responsibility to maintain the order of these bathrooms. It is no rare occasion that one finds the sink clogged with paper towels (no wonder they run out so quickly), garbage scattered around the floor, and unflushed toilets. The road to better bathrooms is a two-way street.

With hand drying technology, access to soap, and overall better-equipped facilities, as well as more hygiene-conscious students, we’ll be on our way to a cleaner and healthier school community.