A student’s lunch trash left behind on a table on Main Street.

Imagine a visitor to RMHS coming in the main doors when the day is over. They walk out onto Main Street, which is supposed to be large and impressive, an awe-inspiring sight. However, the visitor’s eyes are immediately drawn to a half-eaten chicken sandwich that was left on a table. As they walk forward to take in the majesty of the high ceiling and walkways, they have to sidestep ketchup that has made its way onto the floor. 

This is what happens to RMHS after lunch is over, and Main Street is not the only problematic area, either. 

In the cafeteria after every lunch, there is a massive amount of trash left on the tables and benches. What is going on? Something needs to be done about this problem of trash, a problem in our school that is overlooked too much, and really should not be a problem at all. It stains the image and culture of our school and creates more work for janitors that already have enough to do.

The student handbook lists punishments for students that disregard the cleanliness of the building, but honestly it shouldn’t even need to be stated that students should throw away their own trash. Cleaning up after oneself is a matter of common sense, and it is baffling that this is a problem in our school. Do students never clean up after themselves in their own homes? Although punishments like after school cleaning are outlined in the handbook, it feels as though students should be able to clean up their own trash without being under threat of punishment. However, given the current state of things, some change needs to be made that will hold the students more accountable. The current system of no accountability is evidently not working.

There is basically no defense for not cleaning up your own trash. One might try to refute this by saying we have staff who are paid to clean, but honestly, that sounds very entitled. The janitors are busy cleaning and dealing with the trash that is correctly put in the trash cans, and cleaning our very large school. There is no reason to give them unnecessary work when we can just spend five seconds of our time throwing away our own trash.

Not being able to do something as small as cleaning up is not a good look for us seniors who want senior privilege back. As students we really need to step up our game and use some common sense.