My friend Molly Bonner and I have come to the realization that Scituate is filled with kids who do not realize the impact of their actions on their school environment. Students complain all the time about their lack of privileges, but do they really deserve privileges when they leave trash and litter around our school campus?

One day, Molly and I were lingering in the cafeteria between lunch periods. We decided to help the cafeteria ladies clean off the tables, and we were astonished by the amount of trash and food that was left scattered across the tables and floor. Students who had attempted to throw out their trash and missed left it inches away from the cans for custodians to pick up.

Do you throw trash on the floor of your house and leave it for others to clean up? The pure laziness of our high school population is detrimental to our school and town.

When visitors come to the school for events (sporting events, concerts, plays, or meetings) they should see a happy and clean learning environment. But this isn’t the case. The bleachers in the large gym contain trash–including gum, melted candy, and garbage. Consequently, some people refuse to sit in certain areas of the bleachers. I witnessed this first-hand during a volleyball game when fans from Pembroke used paper towels from the bathroom to cover melted candy on the bleachers.

Our football team made it far into the playoffs this year, drawing large crowds to the home games. Unfortunately, football fans were greeted with piles of trash under the bleachers and around the turf.  

When walking toward the front entrance of the high school, visitors are greeted by the statue of people shaking hands, but they may also notice the litter that is collected around the Scituate High School sign. More trash is scattered around the parking lots and wooded areas at our high school. The skate park, tennis courts, and basketball courts are surrounded by even more trash. Custodians shouldn’t be responsible for cleaning up this mess.

The surplus of litter on the SHS campus broadcasts an unfavorable image of our town and our high school to the public. We should take pride in our beautiful town. After all, who else can say their lighthouse is featured in a car commercial?

We know that no one person or single group of people is at fault for the build-up of garbage around our school campus, but we believe everyone could get involved in the clean up. Anchors up, Sailors! We can get this school in SHIP-shape in no time!