MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Hamilton High School students are planning a protest. They’re complaining of a cellphone ban, bad lunches and dirty restrooms.
“It disgusts me. It’s like nasty,” said Hamilton High senior, Omarion Smith. “Yesterday I had to leave the school just to go home and use the bathroom because it was too bad. I couldn’t even do it. They got some bags over all the toilets.”
Students sent FOX13 photos that show an unusable toilet covered in a plastic bag, stalls absent of tissue paper and another image that shows an unflushed toilet stool covered in feces. “It’s dirty in there. There is no soap.”
Students outlined what they refer to as the “HHS Strike”. In the document, students also challenge the Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) phone policy stating, “they take our phones and treat us like prisoners.”
“It’s so much going on. Kids need their phones,” said HHS parent Latoya Webb.
Students told FOX13 the school collects their cellphones at 7:15 a.m. each day, returning them at the end of the school day at 3:15 p.m.
We reached out to MSCS who told us that it welcomes the students’ voice and that its students have a right to peacefully protest.
“We encourage accountability and we encourage students to speak up with their concerns,” said MSCS Executive Communications Strategist Stefani Everson-Phillips. “Accountability is key and our leadership has been very clear about that, so we will definitely be looking into anything that is not happening the way it should be.”
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