Here at Ballard, we have a large population of students and staff. What this comes lots of clubs, sports, and extracurricular activities. As people at Ballard have grown increasingly concerned with the hygiene here, I’d like to offer some insider tips on how to properly take care of one’s hygiene.
Recently, I asked a few Ballard students what they thought of this subject, what they thought would be a good next step, and even what they do to remain hygienic. I asked each student a few questions, and this is what they had to say.
Fatima Brown, a junior at Ballard, gave her opinions on Ballard hygiene. “I think the hygiene here is okay.” I asked her what steps she thinks would have to be put in place in order for it to get better, and she replied suggesting “implementing more soap dispensers in the bathrooms, making sure people wash their hands, making every teacher have hand sanitizer in the classroom, and providing towelettes when you’re in the lunch line, so you know that you’re limiting the amount of bacteria spreading. I see people with Cheeto fingers all the time.” She opens up about the subject even more, saying “I’d recommend hand sanitizer and antibacterial soap as well for the bathrooms, and wet wipes for students and staff at Ballard. I think you should be wiping down your desk pretty constantly throughout the day.” I then asked Fatima if she remembered hygiene being as bad in middle school. “No, not at all. I don’t remember half the people vaping or the hallways smelling like pee and body odors constantly, and vape juice. I feel like I had the liberty to clean my desk and use the bathroom whenever I wanted, instead of having to wait to wash my hands or use the restroom.” Fatima went to Kammerer, so I asked her if she’d ever been to a different school and if the hygiene was better there. “Yes I have, but it was a private school, and it was way better there. They had a desk cleaning system, and you didn’t share your desk with multiple people. You would stay at your desk the whole day, and there weren’t as many rules in place to keep students from leaving the classroom. There was less violence, and it was less strict in a way, the people there felt like there was an image they needed to keep up, and it didn’t get that dirty.” I asked her what she thought teachers could do to work towards this description, and she replied, saying, “I think that teachers could provide deodorant, floss, soap, hand sanitizer, dry shampoo, and other things, to keep students feeling clean, especially if students can’t supply those things on their own.”
Here at Ballard, most will agree that hygiene isn’t the best. However, I asked Leticia Barbosa, a Junior at Ballard who transferred last school year, about Ballard hygiene. Here is what she had to say about it.
“Well, I agree. I mean hand sanitizer in every classroom near the entrance, hand sanitizer disposers in the lunch line entrance, and washing hands in bathrooms should be reinforced with posters reminding everyone. In Brazil, hygiene is really good. You had to bring a toothbrush to school so after lunch you could brush your teeth, and after school we had to change immediately and some people would even bring a change of clothes to school to change into. But, it was normal for us because it’s just the culture.” She also went on about what she would recommend to students and staff to keep the hygiene here good. “I’d recommend Clorox wipes, normal hand sanitizer, deodorant, and Febreze, but also just taking showers regularly would have an effect on the hygiene here.” I then asked her if she thought the hygiene at different schools was as bad. She responded, saying “no, I don’t remember hygiene being as bad, but our middle school was also during Covid, so more things were reinforced, like wiping down tables, washing hands, and smelling good. If we weren’t at home, we were being super cautious at school to try not to get sick, and I think that had a large impact on the smells going on there.”
While hygiene at Ballard isn’t the best, it’s also not necessarily horrible. There is definitely something that we can add or change in our routine, but I think that everyone has something that they can add. Nobody is perfect. I asked a staff member at Ballard what they thought the hygiene is like here at Ballard. She remarks, “in general, I would give it a good score. I think some student don’t have good hygiene and that’s okay, but I think that here at Ballard we offer students some resources that they can use and we as staff members really try to minimize the bad hygiene when we see it and we will help them.” She goes on saying, “I see people not washing their hands, and I feel like they could definitely improve on that. You know, spreading germs and keeping Ballard clean is really important, and I see people who aren’t using the bathrooms for personal hygiene and ruining that bathroom privilege for other Ballard students.”
In all, these opinions solidify the idea that Ballard hygiene could get better. So many different people agree on one thing: that some students at Ballard need to improve their hygiene. Something that you can do to help with Ballard’s hygiene is privately recommending people products or resources. For example, Ms. McClanahan provides excellent resources for students, further showing that Ballard staff cares for their students and the building. Another thing you can do is remind people to wash their hands and wear deodorant. If you are a freshman at Ballard, know that it’s really important to keep Ballard up and running in great shape, which includes having good hygiene.
If you notice the hygiene at Ballard getting worse than usual, please tell people around you to try some of the products from this link and provide them with resources that might help them.
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