There are a couple places in the world that humanity is forbidden to venture into if they want to come out unscathed: the Bermuda Triangle, Area 51, and page 2 of Google. But amongst all the competitors, one location rises above the rest: Granada High’s bathrooms. 

Many questionable activities are happening behind closed stalls, whether it’s smoking, piercings, or other downright strange activities. 

There’s a saying that the true nature of a school can be found in its bathrooms. If the bathrooms are clean with adequate paper towels and soap dispensers, it shows integrity and pride for the school. If the bathrooms are dirty, covered in graffiti, and filled with marijuana smoke, it shows that there is a sense of unease on campus. 

When asking students about the weirdest things they have seen in the school bathrooms, I got a number of controversial answers. These bizarre behaviors include a girl riding on top of the stall door, screaming and yelling, while her friend pushed her back and forth like it was a sideways seesaw. 

Other honorable mentions are a full smut scene written on the doors, an entire stall filled to the brim with toilet paper, a wet tampon stuck on the wall, and a girl taking a hit from four different vapes at once.  

Smoking and vaping are big problems in the bathrooms. Students walking into the bathroom with the full intention of using it, receive a face full of marijuana smoke, and turn the other way.

Kylie Rose implores, “It’s really upsetting because when people do those kinds of things in the bathroom, they ruin it for everybody.” 

When asked about their thoughts on the situation, another student agreed, saying, “It’s honestly not a safe environment anymore and they are always closing them, like where do I go now? I’m too scared to use the bathrooms provided by the school because they have become a place where it is so disgusting and filthy. I remember in freshman year I went to use the restroom, but after seeing the state that other students have made it into, I have never been in a school bathroom since. This is me being real.” 

And it’s not the opinion of one student, it’s the effect felt by many. Most students would rather avoid the bathrooms altogether than have to use it while questionable activities are going on one stall over. 

Amongst the many activities are piercings. Last year, a girl used a small sewing needle and a septum ring to pierce her septum, running it under sink water and wiping it with hand sanitizer from the classroom. After three or four tries to get it straight, it went through her nose. The whole process took under 10 minutes, and she returned to class like nothing ever happened. 

The bathrooms aren’t always fully intact either. There are sinks that shoot out like heavy duty fire hoses and sinks that spray water in the wrong direction, giving the students who tested them a tap water facial. There have been sinks removed in multiple bathrooms that have been like that for years. One staff member commented that there have continued to be senseless acts of vandalism. 

Tenth grader Sarah Araya also mentioned that, “the portables bathroom had a vent on the ceiling that opened and closed and it made me feel like someone was watching me.”

Most students agree that the only safe bathroom is the one in the science hall. 

However, there is a clear distinction between some bathrooms and others. J Hindman advises, “If you have to use the bathroom, definitely go to the science hall. The rest of them kind of suck.” As the newest part of campus, the bathrooms reflect the positive environment of the science hall. Whereas the bathrooms by the portables, long ranked the worst on campus, reflects the simple and almost makeshift manner of portables. 

The bathrooms at Granada are a reflection of the true nature of the school. Imperfect but improving.