Write about what you’re thinking about in this exact moment. It doesn’t have to make any sense.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Why Every School Should Have Gender-Neutral Bathrooms
Did you know that 60% of transgender people in the U.S. avoid public bathrooms for fear of being harassed? That is one reason why gender-neutral bathrooms should be made available in every school. Three main reasons that gender-neutral bathrooms in schools are important will be included in this essay. One reason is that non-binary people can face harassment in gender binary restrooms. Another reason is that people who are non-binary often have to choose a “side” every time they go to a place with only gendered bathrooms. The last, but not least, reason is that if non-binary students can go to a gender-neutral bathroom, they might be less likely to fear harassment and more likely to focus on school. Those are the three major reasons why schools need to have gender-neutral bathrooms. Non-binary people can face harassment in gendered bathrooms because they dress differently than the way people who typically use the bathroom they’re in, or because they do dress the same, but their sex assigned at birth doesn’t match their gender. No one should have to worry about their safety when all they want to do is use the toilet. If every school had gender-neutral bathrooms, non-binary students can just use those and skip the whole harassment deal.People who are non-binary often are forced to choose between male and female bathrooms. If someone feels that they are neither of those, then it is unjust to make them use one of them. That’s like making someone who doesn’t like skirts choose between wearing pencil skirts and loose skirts their whole lives. If someone is non-binary, then they should be able to go to a bathroom that is for their gender. If there are gender-neutral bathrooms that non-binary students can go to, they might be less likely to fear harassment, and more able to focus on schoolwork. Non-binary students should be able to focus as much as any other student on their work, and having only gender binary bathrooms can cause those students to have to worry about being intensely bullied. Every student deserves to be able to focus entirely on school. Gender-neutral bathrooms in schools are important because non-binary students can face harassment in gendered bathrooms, non-binary students have to choose which bathroom they belong in when they often don’t feel like they belong in either and because if there are bathrooms that non-binary students can go to, they might fear harassment less, and be able to focus on schoolwork more. If all schools provide gender-neutral bathrooms, maybe we can lower the statistics of transgender Americans who avoid public bathrooms because of harassment from 60%.
The Writer, Artist of Words, by Michaela Frey, 12
Michaela Frey, 12Herndon, VA The Writer, Artist of Words Michaela Frey, 12 A fog has fallen over the people, a devastating, colorless, mist of despair hanging over the humans. Those consumed in the fog are mourned; yet the numbers of those taken rise every day, a staircase leading up, and all the same, leading downwards in a spiral. Anyone watching from the outside is relieved and happy, though anything that would ever rely on humans is missing that part. Animals in city parks, usually fed by tourists, look around with confusion, wondering where their food is. You write this paragraph with disdain. A school project? Hardly anyone cared at your school; with the grades not counting, the assignments optional. But writing, writing is the only thing that keeps you working. You are a writer. An artist of words, shaping, molding, hands working with a fragile clay called language. Flipping away the page in your notebook, you turn to a blank page and stare down at it. After writing for the past few hours, you need a break. But a break from what? A break during quarantine is staring out your small apartment’s window, the one housing your mother, father, and siblings–each a handful of their own, but together, they are loud, tired, and angry. Outside, the city is deserted except for the occasional car passing by, a person with or without a mask walking down the street. The normally bright restaurants, the ones you have been able to walk to your entire life, are either closed for quarantine or closing permanently due to lack of business. You sigh and go back to your writing. A magical young reindeer, with sparkling cream-colored horns, emerald eyes, streaks down the city streets, bringing color to each part of the dull, deserted, infectious roads– With a groan, you shove the page to the side. Too corny. Hope would not be corny. If your writing was hope, you wouldn’t be cringing at it. Even your report that was for a school project was not hope, just a blatant, unemotional report about the facts everyone knew. If it was published in a paper, people would look at it, skim through briefly with a heaving sigh, and go to the next report. You know people want hope. You, a writer, an artist of words, a sculptor of stories, know this, from the top of your head to the tip of your shoes. But how do you give it to them?
