A new trend has emerged in the girls’ bathrooms on campus, and it is hurting the school’s resources and environment. Graffiti, a nuisance faced in many public spaces, comes and goes in cycles at Burlingame.  

“It pops up, and sometimes it pops up pretty quickly too. And it’ll pop up for, like, a good month or so,” maintenance worker George Frias said. “It’s cyclical.”

Vandalism takes time away from the maintenance staff, as well as funds from the school and energy from administration. Severe punishments have been put in place for vandalism, including detention, suspension and worse. Yet students continue to deface school property, disregarding the consequences.

“I went to the loo and saw a big marijuana plant with a smiley face, I see a lot of ‘f-ck school,’ a lot of Juuling symbols,” junior Chloe Castillo said. “I have tried to erase it, though, because it pisses me off.”

Because most vandalism on campus occurs in areas out of the public eye, such as the student bathrooms, the administration and maintenance staff work together to keep the school free of graffiti.

“We are vigilant, so we check the bathrooms pretty regularly,” Assistant Principal Michelle Fichera said. “We try to make sure we’re in there so we have eyes on it. Of course, the maintenance staff is in and out of the bathroom all day long, and they’re another set of eyes to help us. That’s also the crew that, when there is vandalism, they’re the crew that cleans it up. Whatever happens, they see it, they clean it up.”

The administration acknowledges the problems vandalism face to our school, but mainly focus on the root of the problem–student disregard for school property.

“Our goal is, what we want to do is maintain and keep our environment clean and we want to respect our environment, make sure we don’t talk advantage of it and we don’t abuse it, which means we don’t vandalize it and graffiti on it,” Fichera said. “Generally speaking, most all students do that here.”