School Bathrooms

BY EMELIE ANG, DANIEL CHUNG, VIOLET WHITE & MANAMI YAMAKAWA

Dear Vandals of Unihigh,

It’s a basic human right, going to the bathroom. Everyone, every once in a while, needs to answer nature’s calling and rush to the toilet, even if it is during a test. Once upon a time, needing to go to the bathroom was stress-free, as simple as putting your hand up. These days however, at Unihigh, things have changed drastically. 

Since the infamous vandalism of the boy’s toilets in the 100s, the bathrooms of Unihigh have strictly been locked during class times. Now, with this new change being implemented, the process of going to the bathroom has gotten a little more than complicated. 

And we’ve all seen it, the infamous key on the cone.

A student puts their hand up in Ms Costelloe’s WEP class; they’re busting to go to the bathroom.

Ms Costelloe is in the middle of teaching, perhaps not the best moment to choose.

Ms Costelloe is anything but happy.

Exasperated, she goes to her computer and reluctantly signs the student out of class in the infamous chronicle.

The student, nervous about visiting subschool, knocks on the foreboding, blue door, reminiscent of the doorway to hell.

But the student has nothing to fear, as Mr Hatzikostas welcomes them in with kind, inviting eyes, as he checks if Ms Costelloe has approved of their departure.

The student grabs the infamous key cone off the wall in subschool, taking note of a shocking statistic.

Student disinfects the cone then proceeds to go to the bathroom…

The bathrooms of Unihigh have been the talk of the street even before the event of the vandalism. Student’s have voiced their complaints, commenting about the ye olde aesthetic that the bathrooms ‘give’. But now, the state of them has been illuminated in an even brighter light once again, with debate about the possibility of CCTV to keep them under control. 

But some could argue that cameras could be useless, with the state of the bathrooms already derelict and beyond repair, yearning for a fresh coat of paint. 

Could we consider a possible renovation of the bathrooms. Would this deter future vandals from the desire of misusing the bathrooms? Could this be the next topic of writing for NAPLAN persuasive pieces?

Although they remain pretty unknown to the majority of the school, the bathrooms in EBS, remain fancy schmancy, and more or less, clean and well-kept. They’ve definitely become the hottest choice in recent circumstances, so it’s hard to tell whether they’ll stay this way. Is this just another piece of evidence supporting the push to write up some plans for urinal bowls for the male bathrooms? 

The always empty pads and tampon dispenser, it's an often sight to see the pads plastered in various places on the bathroom walls

The unbelievable state of the hand dryers in the girls' bathroom; some would rather have wet hands all day

The least of the damage...

An arguably artistic doodle on a door of the bathroom; a student's attempt to spruce up the place

A more abstract approach to the increasingly popular "bathroom art"

Petition to introduce urinal pods into the bathrooms; no need to make things so awkward.

Although the vandalism of the male bathrooms were frowned upon, one could be glad it shines a light and has sparked a discussion once again. 

Regards,

The students of unihigh.