Dear H-F Administrators, 

Have you ever had to use the bathroom and when you arrived and tried to open the door it was locked? Well, If you haven’t experienced this, come to H-F throughout the school day, because this is a very common occurrence for H-F students.

I understand that there are students amongst the H-F population who do participate in illicit activities, but because of this policy students, who aren’t doing things of that nature, are being affected.  

According to the H-F security guard by G Building, Thera Harris, H-F has made the decision to begin locking most of the doors in the south building because it is in an effort to “stop students from ditching their last period classes and smoking in the bathrooms.”

If the problem with bathrooms is that students are skipping class, the act of simply closing them off to everyone is extremely unfair to students 

Bathrooms next to A building have also recently been seen locked, or blocked off after 3rd period on certain days (mainly seen on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

While this is a noble effort, if the goal were to reduce class ditching and smoking in the bathrooms, you’re really not stopping anything! The only way to truly put a stop to these activities would be to lock the bathrooms throughout the entire day. But that’s unreasonable.

But so is locking most of the bathroom doors, because as we all know, if someone wants to do something, they are going to find a way to do it.

Since most of the bathrooms begin being locked around 2:45 p.m. students have to hold their bladder until they get home, which is problematic. If the issue is bad enough, it could lead to possible health problems. According to Medical News Today articles, “holding pee for too long can cause bacteria to multiply. This may lead to a urinary tract infection (UTI).”

Therefore, H-F administrators, let’s compromise. We suggest having monitors around the bathrooms if it’s really in an effort to protect students, and help maintain their academic success. Resources need to be allocated to make this possible so that students no longer have to walk long distances just to use the bathroom.

Let us know what you think!

Sincerely,

Concerned H-F students