Restrooms. Although necessary, they make you cringe in disgust, especially the restrooms at school.

Even with the general lack of soap, tissue paper, and paper towels, janitorial workers are not at fault here. There are just some things you don’t do in a public restroom – some things you just shouldn’t do in any restroom. It’s about time Spartans followed the rules and regulations of using a public restroom.

For starters, don’t loiter in the restroom. It’s awkward and strange that anyone would ever want to hang out and relax in the restroom while peers are taking care of business just a mere two feet away.

“I hate when you walk in and people are just standing there. If you are in the restroom and you aren’t relieving yourself, you need to go,” said Kelsey Hodge (10).

For girls who prefer friends accompany them to the restroom, when one enters the stall, the conversation should stop. Unless you are asking for the person in the next stall to pass you tissue, please keep quiet until you leave the stall. No one wants to talk to you while the sounds of relieving oneself goes on in the background.

Another simple rule of public restroom usage is flushing the toilet. Being in high school, this shouldn’t be a problem. It isn’t that hard to pull that little silver lever. All your waste magically disappears, and the next person doesn’t have to see it. Is the toilet clogged? You can call a janitor, and they’ll fix it. Thus the restroom won’t be permeated with its usual nauseating smell. No one has to see your fecal matter, and the day is saved.

Another great tip: keep your waste in the toilet. Never is it acceptable to spread your waste on the walls, on the toilet seat or to leave it on the floor of the stall.  Likewise, female menstrual fluids should also stay hidden. There is a designated receptacle bin for that waste. And remember: don’t flush things that aren’t meant to be flushed.

The restroom isn’t a message board. While your handwriting or drawing might be nice, it would be kind if you didn’t degrade our school with your vandalism.

Lastly, treat the public restroom as a public restroom. “I found bacon on the toilet seat,” Dominique Malone (10) reported. The restroom isn’t a lunch hall.  There is no excuse for the Ziploc sandwich bags and Chick-fil-a bags in the corner of the stalls.

Although our bathrooms need improvements like hot water, toilet paper, soap, paper towels and individual receptacle bins for the women’s restrooms, the state of our restrooms rest largely in our hands. Let’s act like people of the civilized world and flush our poor restroom habits.