Suhail Rahimi

It is no secret that during passing periods, break, and the beginning of lunch, there are lines that extend out the doors of the girls’ bathrooms, especially the E Building bathroom. Waiting in line could take as long as the 10 minute break, and even into the next passing period, but when you finally get a step inside, visitors are met with the pungent smell of vape smoke, and sometimes marijuana mixed with perfume.
Groups as big as 10 people stand in front of stalls or even crowd into one of the bigger stalls, passing around their pens and openly smoking in the bathroom. The precarious part about this is when someone walks out of a stall to wash their hands, these people stare at them as though they are invading their personal space in the worst way in a public space.
Not only is vaping in the restrooms disgusting, it is illegal and a health hazard. The mixed, strong smells can be difficult for people with asthma and can lead to asthma attacks. The lack of ventilation makes the smoke in the already stale air a funnel for troubled breathing.
This issue is also due to a lack of people reporting the problem to administration. Principal Richard Nash has said no one has come forth to him about this issue, however, he had a meeting with a parent and other administrators about how this issue is going to be resolved.
“If we see something, say something. We have to let adults know that things aren’t being handled appropriately when they are on campus, whether it’s by a student or by an adult. That helps us to figure out the where and how and for the E bathroom specifically, it helps us develop a supervision plan as we go forward to what we can do,” Nash said. He suggested placing campus security around the restroom or even inside the restroom to monitor the bathrooms on a consistent time frame.
The PHS student handbook states “State law prohibits smoking, possession, or use of tobacco, or any product containing tobacco (including chewing tobacco, Nicotine, and Vaping devices), by students while on campus or while attending school-sponsored activities,” and is punishable by detention and suspension.
Most students just want to come to school in a clean and safe environment and to use the bathroom as quickly as possible. If the administration truly believes that PHS is a drug free zone, there will be no more drug use in the bathrooms. Students can help stop the vaping in the bathrooms by reporting using the QR codes in stalls.