You finally get a chance to use the restroom. You enter the bathroom and there’s one problem, crickets. They chirp loudly and are incredibly disturbing. Your uncomfortable surroundings make you want to head back. You suddenly hear a rattle in the vent due to a rat, and it scares you horribly. The school is infested with insects and rodents.
Due to the pests found throughout campus, the work environment is made unsafe and potentially harmful for the Bowie community. Walking in the halls or bathrooms knowing at any moment a rat or cricket could spontaneously appear is scary. Students and staff may also have concerns regarding this noisy chirping, and many have undergone their own experiences with these pests.
Bowie students bond over their shared disdain for the insects and rodents by sharing pictures and proof of their presence via social media. This impedes on the school’s ability to have an exemplary reputation, which the community strives for. Incoming students are aware of the issue because of our student body posting photos of crickets, bugs, and rodents.
Additionally, many teachers have shared their input about how it affects their teaching and ability to get student’s attention by having to get rid of rodents, squishing bugs, and trying to keep students focused.
Rats, like any other rodent, carry multiple diseases such as Hantavirus, LCMV, Tularemia, and Salmonella. Having such diseases in our school can create an unpalatable environment and can spread unneeded sickness around. Crickets can also carry E. coli and Salmonella. No students at Bowie ever want to experience or be exposed to these types of harmful diseases on a daily basis, but it is possible that if these pests continue to crowd our environment, the stated illnesses can get closer to the surfaces students often come in contact with.
Crickets are almost anywhere. They have been found especially in bathroom corners, stalls, and counters. These insects are often found jumping around in classrooms and squished in areas of a room. Many crickets have also been seen inside of ceiling lights because they are attracted to light. If pests are constantly jumping and making noises students won’t be able to pay attention to their classwork. This distracting environment could have an impact on a student’s performance, and ability to focus.
Rats can be even more damaging than crickets. They could enter through small holes in a corner or wall, and they are capable of destroying wires by chewing them. This could have a noticeable effect because the academic building on the Bowie campus has already experienced structural challenges. Additionally, chewing on specific electrical wires means they will no longer be functional, which could create significant obstacles considering that the Bowie community relies greatly on technology. These rodents could also leave urine and feces in the vents, causing unpleasant odors that students and staff must tolerate throughout the day.
It is clear that the staff at Bowie aren’t necessarily focused on the rodent issue. Due to numerous unfortunate circumstances last month regarding an issue of school safety, Bowie isn’t solely focused on the problem of crickets and rats. However, the more we push aside this significant matter, the more students will notice and get worried. Students don’t want to share learning space with crickets and especially, not rats.
Custodians at Bowie work hard to keep our environment clean but it is not their job to take care of dead crickets and messes from rats. Calling pest control could be a probable solution so that administration can overcome this out-of-control problem. If pest control isn’t an option, setting traps and spraying certain areas of the school would be another option to prevent the prevalence of crickets and rats on campus.
Crickets and rats may not seem like an important problem right now, but if administration doesn’t prioritize necessary improvements around the school, it will progressively deteriorate overtime. The Bowie administration should take action against this issue promptly so that these pests don’t continue to impede on the community’s school experience.
