Kareena Dhillon
Executive Opinion Editor
The issue of trash being left out at Mira Costa has become increasingly noticeable and hard to ignore. The lack of respect of Costa students is seen in how there is always trash. Students do not seem to care about the mess they are leaving behind, and how this ruins the image at Costa. It also leads me to believe that Costa has not created an environment that generates respect and pride from its students.
It seems to be a belief that throwing away trash is not important— because someone will throw it away for you. After lunch and nutrition one can easily spot staff members going the extra mile to pick up every piece of trash. Our campus should not look filthy and resemble a pig sty when each student is constantly held to a high standard in academics.
Another explanation or cause to blame is how Costa does not demand the respect it deserves. Without respect, students will not feel obligated to keep the campus clean, because they are not proud of it. Costa should foster its students to respect their environment and its staff, after rightfully gaining that respect.
For these reasons it is important for the administration to help students gain accountability. Janitorial staff should not have to take on an extra burden on the account of student laziness. It might be necessary for our janitors to become more lax in order for students to realize the kind of mess they leave each day. This behavior of spoon feeding has spread to all aspects of Costa, literally. The presence of trash around our campus symbolizes the lack of respect students have for their school and its staff. However, it is obvious that our school does not demand the respect a campus should receive.
It is questionable that students do not think twice before abandoning their trash at the signal of a bell. What kind of generation, or rather community, has been raised that they do not believe picking up after themselves is essential. This new generation has proved to disadvantage students who will eventually become adults. This community has served to cater to its students, but that will not always prove true in adulthood, and some might be in for a rude awakening upon realizing this.
Costa caters to its students by making it easy to choose as few classes as possible, basically teacher shopping, and failing to enforce attendance policies. The lack of organization is also nothing new to students, and we do not hold our administration in high regard. Considering these issues, students do not hold the school in high regard, and the campus suffers as a result. Nevertheless, student behavior must change in order to preserve the reputation of greatness that Mira Costa demands.
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