(4/19/98) The government is hazardous to your health. To cut down on smoking, many high schools lock their bathrooms during class periods. And even if the bathrooms are unlocked, students can't get any privacy because the bathroom stalls don't have doors.
In Manchester-by-the-Sea High School, students were locked out of bathrooms for more than three weeks. After students protested the policy, health officials ordered the school to reopen the toilets.
"What it was doing was punishing 400 students for the actions of about 10 students," said Bre Quinn, 18, president of the Student Council.
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Asking a government agency to monitor a government school is like asking the mafia to stop crime.
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Many students have not been as fortunate. Despite complaints at a school in Hawaii, the government's Department of Health said that it would not force schools to keep bathrooms open all the time. And the Department of Community Affairs in Florence, N.J., another government agency that is supposed to protect you, ruled that schools can limit access to bathrooms as long as students don't have to wait too long in lines. Asking a government agency to monitor a government school is like asking the mafia to stop crime.
Despite wasting money and effort on a losing battle to reduce smoking, the government thinks taking away more of your rights will get you to quit. Smoking may be hazardous to your health but so is candy, chocolate, and hamburgers. Should we outlaw them also or should we give people control over their own bodies? Libertarians believe that you should decide what goes in your mouth.
If your school tries to lock the bathrooms, you should protest like the students in Manchester-by-the-sea. They were successful and you can be successful.
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