Vaping in the Overland High School bathrooms has become an increasing issue for students, causing crowding, disagreements, and possibly even bathrooms to not be available.  

When bathroom stalls are taken up by multiple individuals who are smoking/vaping, it gets significantly difficult to be able to use them for the correct purpose. This makes students who actually need to go frustrated and upset. Usually, at Overland, when this tends to happen, bathrooms get closed, and only two or three are left open. I have taken the time to interview two students and one teacher who say that vaping in school bathrooms is a big problem and it needs to be changed.

James Ingles, a sophomore here at Overland High School, thinks that vaping in school bathrooms is problematic and needs to be resolved. He states, “I feel like every time I walk into a bathroom, there’s at least one or a group of kids vaping, and it’s quite annoying.” 

This is a prime example of why it’s so problematic that vaping occurs in school bathrooms and why a change needs to be made. If this student has to deal with this every day or at least every time bathroom usage happens, someone needs to do something about it.

 James also speaks about a call to action and what a positive change would look like. For example, “I think it needs to be taken care of by the security guards, because there’s been a multitude of times where the security guards would be outside the bathroom, and I walk into the bathroom and it’s like crowded with kids vaping.” Since security guards and police officers we have here at Overland have the power to take vapes, search backpacks/personal belongings, and clear bathrooms, they should actually do it. Many other students have experienced crowding in the bathrooms when security guards simply stand there, and this leads to not being able to use the restroom. If anything, more administrators and also SROs could take the time to check bathrooms for students vaping, so this issue can be resolved. 

Sometimes it can become stressful for students when trying to use the restroom, but there’s students vaping and taking up every single stall available. It can even become stressful enough that students may be compelled to say something to teachers about how they feel. Claire Golterman, an English teacher at Overland High School, feels that even though she’s never experienced students complaining about vaping here, she’s seen it in the past. It made her sad to see that students felt frustrated that they couldn’t use the bathrooms. 

Lastly, Joy Amoako spoke about the differences from bathroom usage in middle school vs. high school.  She also spoke about her frustrations with crowding in the bathrooms, and she questioned why it makes people so happy or why they feel that it’s the next best thing. Joy has found that bathrooms in middle school were much cleaner and more organized, but still shared the same issues with vaping. She also finds that high school students tend to dirty up the bathrooms so much, and crowding is a big problem for her. 

Amoako took the time to question why students don’t want to go to class and actually succeed in high school, since it really matters for their future. She questioned why it’s so popular and what positive impact on people’s lives vaping makes. Everyone who struggles in this area should consider the impacts vaping can have on their health and look for guidance in giving it up. Vaping is something that can seriously take a toll on your mental health as well.

Vaping is something that shouldn’t affect students in school, but unfortunately does, and it’s a significant problem that can change with the right help and correct actions. Security guards, SROs, and administrators can do much more to straighten out the issue by bathroom checks and even proper searches can make a difference. Students can also make changes, but overall, we can make the right choices and turn things around for the better.