Racquel Borland, sophomore, wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every morning to begin getting ready for school before she leaves to catch her bus at 6:40 a.m. Once she arrives at MHS, Borland, along with other students who take the bus from the city, prefers to finish getting ready in the school bathrooms.
The first week back from Spring Break, however, Borland came across a surprise: some of the bathroom mirrors had been removed.
“Hanging out in the bathroom has gotten worse because there are only two mirrors in the cafeteria bathroom, which is where the girls typically put on makeup,” Borland said. “Every girl is trying to take turns using two mirrors.”
Borland said a lot of girls value their physical appearance.
“Physical appearance can make or break our confidence and a lot of girls base their self-esteem off that, and taking away the mirrors makes some girls a little more self-conscious,” Borland said.
Moving bathroom mirrors coincided with the administration propping open bathroom doors.
“We are going to be permanently propping the doors open, so the reason for moving the mirrors is for the privacy of the people in the stalls and urinals,” Sophomore Principal Kyle Devine said.
Devine said keeping bathroom doors open is an attempt to address issues with vaping, fighting and graffiti in the bathrooms.
I think it’s just weird and, frankly, makes everyone uncomfortable.
— Landon Lawhorn
“It’s really just to keep the place safer for people and more enjoyable,” Devine said. “Nobody should have to walk into a bathroom and deal with that.”
Landon Lawhorn, sophomore, said he wishes bathroom doors would remain closed.
“I think that is a major invasion of privacy,” Lawhorn said. “I just think it’s weird and, frankly, makes everyone uncomfortable.”
