Trash talk aims to clean up litter on campus

There are times when being dirty is OK — like when your mom is there to clean it up — but when it comes to school, it's downright disrespectful. When you're in elementary school, people are more lenient when you leave your trash around. When you are in middle school, teachers are still practically holding your hands, teaching you wrong and right, yet still not much is done. High school is a time when we are becoming young adults, and if we can't pick up our trash now, then what's going to happen when we get out in the world?

Lindhurst High School already has a dubious reputation — and as of now, we are living up to it. People complain that we are a dirty school, and how we don't take pride in our campus. Well, have you ever thought about changing the way other schools and parents see us? Maybe if we devoted a little more time to cleaning up after ourselves instead of texting our best friends who are sitting across the table, we wouldn't display such a negative image.

I understand when people are in a rush and they forget to pick up their napkins, but when it comes to trash cans being turned over and lunch trays sprawled all over the grounds, it's just an outrage. And to the guys: If you feel the need to hock a loogie to show off your "manliness," please do so into the garbage can. Nobody will think any less of you, I promise.

Students need to start taking more pride in their schools. We are past our fourth week of the year, but students still don't understand that we need to maintain a clean environment. Students are here five days a week, seven hours a day. Lindhurst is pretty much a second home to many students. But just because their mothers aren't around to be on their case doesn't mean students should stop trying to be decent people.

Graduates have come and gone. They stop by to visit old teachers and notice how torn up our school has become. Kristina Britton, a 2009 graduate, was here recently. She said: "Look at how gross this school is coming to look like." Another graduate, Jasmin White, pointed out how the garden she helped to plant was filled with weeds and trash.

What is it about students? Don't they understand that the trash can isn't far away? They act like they can't throw away stuff from lunch when they are on their way to class. They get up from the ground, dust off their pants and walk right past a trash can while forgetting their trays that are covered with leftover ketchup and half-eaten burgers.

Recently, LHS helped out with the Linda Clean Up. All I could think was: Shouldn't we clean up our school before we start to help the community? We have to come here every day, yet somehow the trash doesn't seem to bother most of the students. It's time for a change.

Before I sent this column to my editor, I mentioned my topic to a few fellow students. They were all offended and thought I was out of line. But they wouldn't be ashamed of the column if it wasn't true. If people took more pride in their school, then I wouldn't write about the litter on campus.

Ashley Hickey is a senior at Lindhurst High School. Her column appears every six weeks in Education.