Whenever the 3:15 bell rings, two types of people head out of school, one type is rushing out of class in hope of arriving as soon as possible to his or her house to do what he or she has been craving for who knows how many hours, the other type heads out of class relaxed without any sort of rush. This craving that has been spoken about is about defecating: the type who rushes home is the type of person that defecates anywhere else but school, while the other type is the complete opposite. The controversy of defecating at school’s campus has been in existence for many years now, and it’s a topic that will always split the school into two sides.

The first side that this controversy creates, is the side in which students decide not to go to the bathroom. It’s not only a cleanliness or comfortable issue, but a maturity problem around students. “I’ve heard that [students don’t go the bathroom] , and also based on my experience as a high school student, I think it’s probably a maturity issue of not wanting to be made fun of by their friends,” Andrew Ambron, 10th grade English teacher, said.

Out of a class of students, 60% voted that they don’t go to the bathroom at school, this is due to many other factors in play that have to do with comfort and hygiene. “I think that most people do not use the facilities of the school because they prefer the comfort and privacy of their homes,” Lucas Hall, high school junior, responded when asked about it. What he says is very true: there is nothing better than your own home and no more sacred place than meeting your needs than your own bathroom, but this opinion doesn’t only go for the male side of the story but also the female side. “No I don’t go to the bathroom at school because the bathrooms are super nasty and besides there’s nothing more uncomfortable than pooping at school,” said Sara Arriola, high school junior. “Very few women poop at school, and if they do they definitely don’t enjoy it,” adding to the perspective of women towards pooping at school. This decision from part of the students is not something new at the school as it has been seen for many years now. Manuel Gomez, a 2015 graduate when asked about the controversy said “From my time at the school, the majority of men didn’t go to the bathroom at school, only the shitters did.” As said before, many factors are in play in each student that make them take the decision; it can be from their immaturity or fear of getting picked on, or just simply because they feel more comfortable doing it at home, or because the bathrooms are sometimes dirty and people find it disgusting. Although the majority represent this side there is still a minority that represents the other side.

Even though many people decide to go to the bathroom at school, they often times don’t enjoy it or do it because they have to, and often times take specific measures to do so. “I sometimes have to go, but the bathrooms are very dirty and disgusting,” said Santiago Trujillo, high school junior. Not only do they still find the bathrooms uncomfortable but most of the students try to find isolated bathrooms to take care of their needs, and also sometimes doing it with the company of a friend or a partner in crime. The people who go to the bathroom at school have two ends, either they do it once in awhile or they do it everyday, as from the students who go to the bathroom, 40% of them said that they do it everyday. One of these students is Emilio Pelaez, high school senior, when he said “Whenever I feel like going, I go.” He not only goes to the bathroom every other day of the week, but when he does he also prefers to search for lone bathrooms, often times heading to the art building or the Colosseum to take care of the issue.

Although this controversy has been recurring in the “underground” per se, it still hasn’t been able to be solved even after the many years that it has been present. It’s a topic that no one dares talk about but everyone is aware of it which is more reason to shine a light on it.