Littering has been a significant issue at Malden High, affecting not only the school’s appearance, but also the environment, and school community.
Dunkin plastic cups and straws, fast food wrappers, gum wrappers, lunch items, and snack bags are often left behind in the hallways, staircases, and cafeteria. Despite the number of garbage bins around the entire school and the number of janitors, littering has still been an issue.
While this problem may seem small, leaving lunch in the staircases causes a stench to linger throughout the staircase, leading to students’ complaints. “Usually after lunch, the Boyle staircases are filled with random foods and if it stays for too long, it stinks,” said sophomore Abigail Alexandre.
Boyle House history teacher Haley Rizzo allows all of her students to bring drinks and food to her class but advises them to clean up after themselves. “I typically tell my students they are free to eat and drink,” said Rizzo, “but leaving trash behind often leads to unwanted friends in the room.”
Littering around MHS has also seemed to cause an influx of rodents like mice and insects. “Anytime anyone leaves their trash behind, there will be mice. Even if I don’t personally see them… there will be evidence of their presence,” Rizzo mentioned.
Littering is particularly noticeable during lunchtime when students often toss wrappers and leave their leftover lunch throughout the hallways. Although there are some trash bins available throughout the school, students fail to take the extra step to throw their trash away. “The main reason students litter is laziness to walk all the way to the trash bin,” sophomore Julianna Mercidieu expressed.
Over the years, littering has traveled from the floors to inside lockers and around bathrooms. “Littering isn’t necessarily only on the floor, but definitely in the lockers now, too,” Mercidieu said.
Not only is littering affecting the school’s environment, but it also provides extra work for the teachers to clean up after others after a long day. “Sometimes teachers have to take the time out of their day to clean up after students because they don’t want to pick up their own trash,” Mercidieu explained.
Freshman Jaylen Jeudy believed that “students aren’t the ones working, so they just litter and don’t care about the consequences.” While some students think teachers do address the problem, junior Jorgenson Dorson expressed that “I don’t think teachers address littering enough in my opinion.”
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