Afterschool Homeroom
Our rights flushed right down the toilet

In an effort to make Central a less chaotic enviroment, for teachers and students alike. New, somewhat drastic, measures have been taken. In my opinion, measures which have forced the entire student body to give up their most basic of human rights. Our rights to use the lavatories at any given time. This is why I thought I should bring into light the Central High school bathroom policy.
"No student is allowed to use the bathroom unless they're bleeding or not breathing" Yes, this is Principal Almagno speaking over the intercom. Something that her predecessor, Ms.Decarlo came up with. Until the whole "smoking on school grounds" incident, this is what you'd hear at Central echoing down the hallways on a weekly basis. Just ask, basically, any of the near 1,600 students and 135 teachers if they've heard this announcement more than once. They will all say yes(except for maybe thosefew who are loyal to Almagno). Just think of this before anyone out there(and I'm not pointing fingers) accuses me of slander.
Both teachers and students are disatisfied with this policy. If a teacher lets a student out of the classroom to use the bathroom, or for any matter really, the teacher will most likely end up getting a write-up. Several teachers have already felt Almagno's fury for letting students use the lavatories during class time. There was this one case where Almagno yelled at a teacher, who has a pacemaker, for letting a student leave class to use the lavatories. The guy has a pacemaker! So right now, teachers will either sneak a student out to the bathroom, or not at all.
Students are the ones who are getting the worst out of this. We are expected to use the lavatories only between periods. That'll give you about 5 minutes. The problem is, that many students have classes on the third floor of the main building one period, and class on the third floor in another building(the Hanley building), across the street, the next period. And that's not taking into account having to use your lockers, which may be located nowhere near your next classroom. Some students have to run across the street(the street is blocked of from traffic during school hours) to get to the main building just to get to their lockers, and then run back in time for class to the Hanley building. Just how in the world are we expected to be able to use the lavatories(which are swarming with students in a hurry to get to class) when most of us haven't even got the time? It's hard enough walking through the sea of students just to get to the other side of the main building. you can imagine how hard it must be to use the bathroom before time runs out. There have been two cases, that I know of, in which students took the matter into their own hands when they were told they couldn't use the bathroom.
1. When a student was told he would not be allowed to use the bathroom after asking permission several times, said student grabbed an empty bottle of soda, walked off into a corner, and urinated into the bottle. I'm not sure what happened to the student, but I'm sure he must have been punished(I'll look into it further).

2. Again, when another student was repeatedly told that he was not allowed to use the bathroom, this student decided to urinate out the window. He was never able to commit his deed, because he was kicked out of class and suspended for a few days.(I don't have these students' permission to give out their names, but I'm sure they'd be willing to talk about their experiences, with more detail.)

What is their excuse for this policy? Basically, that students cause too much of a disruption when they are allowed to use the lavatories during class time. That friends from different classes will meet up and just wander the halls. This may be true, but there's got to be a better solution to this minor problem than having the whole school on lock down. Why not let a certain amount of students out every day per class? Why not let the teachers decide who is allowed to use the bathrooms and who doesn't based on past experiences with the students. I'm sure they're perfectly capable of doing this, even though they are nothing but educators.

The solution is so simple, I just hope Almagno is capable of figuring it out. Maybe she could talk with teachers and students to try to solve this problem. You know, interact with those you dictate. Just a thought. Though in my opinion, she just isn't suited for the job.

Eliazar Velasquez