By Winson Ye
Managing Editor of School News
The Newton South administration reopened the L-Bench today after closing it last week due to garbage and graffiti on the bench and in the surrounding area.
The administration prevented students from sitting on the bench, posting signs and marking the area of with yellow caution tape while it was repainted.
The bench, located in the hallway between the 2000s and 3000s in Wheeler House, is known as the L-Bench for its shape. The L-Bench is often a place for members of the junior class to sit throughout the day.
According to Cutler Housemaster Josepha Blocker, teachers, campus aides, and housemasters had warned students to clean the L-Bench and surrounding area in the past; however, after seeing the area only accumulate more trash and graffiti, the administration decided to close the area.
Junior John Smith* noted that he saw defamatory comments and racial slurs written in multiple places on the L-Bench.
“[I saw] phrases like 420, Rostelle, Ayobreezy’s got a Donk, **** sucks frog dick, all appeared a few times on it,” Smith said.
Junior Carly Ashner also saw defamatory comments, but only heard about racial slurs written on the bench from her friends.
“I mostly just saw people signing their name and the year they graduate,” Ashner said. “On occasion there were some inappropriate things written, but mostly individual names.”
Blocker also mentioned that teachers have been experiencing difficulties running their nearby classes when the noise level at the bench gets too high.
“It is not just the administration,” Blocker said. “We’re reacting to what various people have been saying around the building.”
Because small-scale interventions have not been successful, Blocker stated that the administration closed down the area in order to begin anew. In fact, the L-Bench was painted over this week to cover the graffiti and give the area a fresh start once it reopened.
According to Blocker, the housemasters are open to a conversation with students about how to keep the area clean and safe.
“The housemasters really love working with students so if they have proposals [about what roles and responsibilities the community as a whole would have when the L-Bench reopens], we’re open to meeting with them,” Blocker said.
Junior Class President Bhavik Nagda hopes to engage in a conversation with the administration regarding the L-Bench.
“I personally believe that the closing of the L-Benches was unexpected, but I’m sure that the administration must have their reasons,” Nagda said. “We can hopefully negotiate with the administration in the future to further discuss their decision.”
Blocker hopes that students understand why the administration made the decision to close down the area.
“We [the administration] don’t like closing down areas of the school,” Blocker said. “We’re hoping that we’re appealing to people’s good sense.”
*This name was changed in order to protect the student’s anonymity.
