At St. Louis High Schools, there has been an uproar of students demanding information on why the paper towels from the bathrooms have been removed.
Ben Brock, the SLHS principal, has come forth with information on why they have been removed from bathrooms to hopefully squash some of the backlash. “So paper towels are no longer in the bathroom because of the fact that we are going more Eco-friendly. We want to be able to help the environment mostly. However, some students were abusing the power of having paper towels by clogging our toilets or making a mess in the bathroom and that would mess with our plumbing and just make our janitor’s jobs harder for them,” Brock explained.
Even though there are genuinely good intentions with this choice, a good number of students have brought up complaints about this. Bethany Bowerman stated, “I feel absolutely furious there are no paper towels in the bathroom because even though individuals abuse their power with it, it doesn’t mean you should punish every student. I have a lot of hope that the paper towel will return. I mean I do like the new hand dryers, but they’re not very sanitary and studies have shown that.”
Even though the school wants to save money by not buying paper towels for restrooms, they are also possibly making people’s hands more dirty with air hand dryers. Studies have shown that air hand dryers can spread bacteria back onto the hands of the user and are less sanitary. The option of paper towels is more effective in removing bacteria and germs than air hand dryers.
Studies from the National Library of Medicine published an article titled, “The Hygienic Efficacy of Different Hand-Drying Methods: A Review of the Evidence,” which states that hand dryers are not as sanitary as one would think. “In fact air movement can encourage the dispersal and transmission of bacteria and increase the chance of cross-contamination. Surrounding air in the washroom is recirculated by air dryers. This recirculation may result in the dispersion of infective aerosols already in the atmosphere and those generated by hands being rubbed together for drying.45 Used air dryers in washrooms are often contaminated and can emit bacteria in their air flow.39 So, there is a potential risk of people standing in front of air dryers acquiring the bacteria being dispersed in the air current toward them.”
Another thing that was noticed by the school was the fact that only the female students were really bothered by this. There were no complaints from male students. “I have heard a lot of people feel very upset about this. I mean in just casual conversation it is brought up and all I hear are awful things about it. I do feel like it’s worse for girls than it is for us guys. I usually only hear the girls complaining about this. Me personally, it really has not bothered me in the slightest. I don’t really like the air dryers, but I need to dry my hands somehow. I guess what I am trying to say is that I make do with what I’ve got,” Elliot Carter explained.
Overall, many students feel very upset about this decision made by the school. Students have made it clear that they want their paper towels back.
