A well-meaning adult walks into a bathroom stall after a delicious lunch with their friend, locking the door behind them and turning around—only to find ketchup, sprayed across the walls like a gruesome crime scene, smeared in obscure patterns along the toilet seat. The mangled corpses of the packets are deliberately laid across the utility’s glossy white surface like some confusing contemporary art piece, meticulously and purposefully placed in their display. What does this supposed ‘art piece’ say? A comment on period pain, perhaps?

This is just one of many outlandish vandalism acts that has occurred in the Grove—a collection of restaurants that’s a quick walk from Summit—and one of the many reasons students have limited access to its premises during lunch and after school hours on Wednesdays from 2:15–4:00 pm.

The vandalism, along with other general issues, has been ongoing for quite a while, becoming a real problem sometime in the spring of last year. Students, mainly those of Summit, began to come to the Grove to seek a place to eat—not a place to buy. Freshman and sophomores saw the Grove as a cooler version of the SHS commons, so even if they weren’t going to purchase anything, it was an easy excuse to say they went off campus for lunch. Many students went as far as bringing packed lunches to the shops for lunch and never buying anything, instead making the real patrons—adults hoping to grab lunch with a friend or coworker—back away from the surging crowd of teens. 

Businesses began to suffer from this overcrowding of non-consumers, and the Grove put up many signs to warn students off. The signs, however, had no impact.

At the same time, the vandalism was becoming worse. Students were being trespassed—which is essentially a police escort off the premises—for their acts, then referred to the school’s SRO officer. The costs began to ramp up, both from loss of patrons and vandalism, which eventually led to the fateful day four weeks ago, when the email announcing the ban from the Grove management was sent out by school administrators to all Summit students.

“They’ve gotten to a place where they’ve decided it’s not fiscally responsible to keep it open to students at certain times of day anymore,” said Donna Servignat, Summit’s Principal.

Mary Thomas, an Assistant Principal at Summit who’s been in contact with the Grove’s property manager throughout this entire ordeal, elaborates on the extensive costs further.

“Since last year there’s been about 11,000 dollars worth of damage from Summit students, specifically at our lunch time,” said Thomas. 

This, of course, makes the Grove’s decision to limit Summit and Pacific Crest student access, seem like the right decision. However, many students are still angry about this—and rightfully so. The teens committing these acts are small in numbers, but we’re all suffering from their actions, losing both a place to study and a place to grab a quick snack. 

While plenty of students are inclined to blame the school for this restriction, the truth is: this was the Grove’s decision. It’s okay to be angry for losing such a cool and convenient location, but it’s also important to acknowledge who’s at fault—our fellow students, and specifically, the underclassmen who are unable to drive. 

The students causing the destruction are doing more than they might think. The damage dealt by the vandalism isn’t covered by the owners of the Grove, but by vendors, putting businesses into a sticky situation. Some would rather pay the growing damage fees than ban students—their main source of income—while others are frustrated with the misconduct and make enough money off other patrons to want to ban them. The truth, however, is that for some businesses, this ban will be detrimental.

“Our business will really struggle until this ban is lifted, being largely dependent on the after school rush of Summit, Pacific Crest, Miller, and High Lakes students,” said Cooper Bollom, a Summit junior and Manager at Elly’s ice cream. “We will continue to have to cut our staff’s hours, and potentially even close shop for a few weeks when business is next to none without students in the winter time.”

Let’s be honest: the ban is bad for all of us. Students are losing a nearby and convenient place to study, small businesses within the building are being damaged by the lack of consumers and school executives are having to deal with all of it. But, overall, the root of the problem is us: the students.

While plenty of us are aware that we aren’t the ones doing the loitering or vandalism, we might have witnessed others doing it—and that’s the problem. If you see something, speak up about it. Stop your friends from painting a bathroom stall red with ketchup, kicking a door or talking down to workers. Not just the Grove, but at any business.

“It’s hard to do [that], it’s scary to address a peer and say, like, ‘Come on, man, let’s not do that,’” said Servignat. “But having a phrase that you can lean into, just to let them know, like, ‘Don’t wreck it for everybody. We just want to be able to come here.’ You know, those are helpful things just to be able to say.”

So if your friend suddenly decides to take it upon themselves to break the soap dispenser, or is just being rude in general, stop them. Speak up about what they’re doing wrong, and make sure they realize their mistake. 

We’re all reflections of Summit so “don’t wreck it for everybody [else].” Stop vandalizing what isn’t yours, and own up to the consequences of your actions.