Strategically placed in North’s girls’ bathrooms, notes saying “You’re beautiful” and other compliments intended to flatter deck the stalls.
“I think it’s cool,” senior Alex Savala said. “It’s just a little note that you read and you’re like ‘that’s nice.’”
An escalation from last year’s simple Post-It notes on the mirrors and in the stalls, now the messages are written in Sharpie on the stall itself. These supposed uplifting messages are now coming under fire and being considered vandalism by some people.
“The notes are kind of pointless,” senior Rebecca Harms said. “It’s a nice gesture, but it’s defacing property.”
However, alongside the compliments there are demeaning messages etched in the stalls paint and also written in various writing utensils, including permanent marker. These messages go overlooked by students while the new messages are reprimanded.
“We’re more used to seeing the demeaning comments,” senior Chelsea Edmiston said. “It doesn’t phase us anymore, but we see these [new comments] and we’re not used to it.”
High school is a critical point in many girls’ self esteem construction. Despite the reality that these messages can be considered vandalism, the likely intent of the writer is to brighten the day of a reader.
“It’s not demeaning,” Harms said. “They’re trying to send a message, not deface property.”
