Drawings on walls and desks, broken cafeteria tables, gum under every visible surface, broken microwaves: vandalism at La Camaradière is truly everywhere.
Students have almost normalized vandalizing, and it seems as if keeping the school a nice, clean environment is no longer important.
When asked about the situation, a student said: “I think it’s sad, because we are a school of more than 1000 students, but there are only a few microwaves. I think they should invest more in it”.
Students are disappointed every time because they have to wait forever in line for the microwaves, which is understandable given that there are about 5 working microwaves.
A new microwave appears in the cafeteria every few weeks, but it somehow breaks within a month or so. What is the solution to this problem? Should the school invest in more microwaves or should it leave them be?
In reality, it is more difficult than it may seem. When the school must constantly make up for vandalism, it has no budget left to buy school supplies. They themselves need renewal because of all the damage they take. This makes vandalism an unstoppable cycle.
Signs in the school were put up to make students aware of the astronomical 43 000$ that was spent on repairing the school just this year. If so much money is wasted that way, why replace the material if it will only be replaced a few weeks later?
The school administration has no choice but to neglect many important things due to this lack of funds. Some of those neglected things can be damaging to our health.
“One time, I was with my friends in the cafeteria, and a man started taking pictures of a big stain in the ceiling. Since we were staring, he turned towards us and told us it was mould and that it affected the air quality. He also said that over time, it could impact our health.”
At the end of the day, it is our school, and we need to take care of it as if it were our home. If we want future students to live in a clean, pleasant environment during their time here, it is our responsibility to be respectful.
