I hope you like rats because we’re going to see them soon enough. The litter and rubbish infestation in our school has reached a tipping point. Toilets are being locked, stairwells have become dangerous, and cleaning staff are being overworked. This is due to a minority of selfish students who feel as though the rules do not apply to them. Prisons are cleaner. Do we want to be the laughingstock of West Lothian schools? You wonder why toilets are closed, it’s because of you. You wonder why teachers will not allow you to wander the corridors during break and lunch, it’s because of you. If rubbish was not such a big deal within the school, we would have a lot more of a trusted community and we as pupils will be trusted to do something as basic as walking in the corridors. Therefore, we need to work together, we need to reduce litter and make our school a place that is safe and clean, so we can all learn and give ourselves the opportunities to be successful in life, as we can’t learn in an unclean school. We need to reduce litter and make our school glimmer, not just for students but also for cleaning staff who don’t have superpowers, every piece of litter needs to be cleaned by a real person and it is depressing to force cleaners to have such an endless workload that could be prevented, but it starts with our students.  

Here are the opinions about school litter from your own peers.  

“I don’t want to come to a dirty school, it makes me feel unmotivated to work.” When asked about how litter impacts daily school life.  

“Visitors to the school can see the mess. A member of staff went to another school, and it was cleaner. Pupils were tidier and looking after it more. I don’t like bringing visitors into the school because you don’t know what you’re going to find around the corner.” When asked about how litter affects our school image.  

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen in any school I’ve ever been in, and I’ve been in several schools.” When asked about the severity of litter in our school.