Principal installs laundromat at school to deter bullying.

Principal Installed Free Laundromat at School to Stop Bullying of Students For Wearing Dirty Clothes

Every day at schools there are victims of bullying. There are some kids who think that they are better than others. They base their actions on the person's color, where they live, friends, status, and much more. 

Luckily, even if there are some bullies, there are also people who fight for other people's rights, so that everyone is entitled to live without being taunted or bullied.

Principal Akbar Cook of West Side High School

Meet Mr. Akbar Cook a School Principal that did something beyond his duties when he placed a free laundromat for the students of his school.

It all started when a student, a teenage girl screamed and got into a fight with the school security officer when he tried to check her bag.

The school has 5 washers and 5 dryers.

The police later told Mr. Akbar Cook, the Principal of West Side High School in Newark, New Jersey that she had dirty clothes. "The girl was homeless and was fighting for her pride."

Cook said many students at West Side faced humiliation because they didn't have anything clean to wear. So when school starts this coming September 4, there will be a new facility in the building: a free laundromat.

These kids who could not afford to wash their clothes faced intense and numerous teasing when they showed up in dirty clothes. Their classmates even sometimes snapped photos and tagged the students and post on social media. The bullying was a top reason why 85% of his students chronically missed school.

West Side High School students doing their laundry.

So two years ago, the principal applied for a grant from a foundation associated with one of Newark's main utility companies, PSE&G. He received $20,000 to turn an old football locker room into a school laundromat.

The new facility has five washers, five dryers and a growing stock of detergent donated from around the country.

The principal said that a lot of his school students faced bullying as they didn't have clean clothes to wear.

"As the story has spread, we have been receiving packages of detergent at the school and through our Amazon wish list page," Nicole Daniel, the school's operating assistant told.

The laundry room is free of charge and opens between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. It is supervised by an adult and keeps an eye out during those hours and pass on the important life skill of being self-reliant; one scoop of detergent and one measure of dignity at a time.

New school facility in West Side High School.

"We are trying to teach them to navigate their pride," Cook said. "My kids are fighters. They just need good ways to fight for themselves, and then take pride in what they can do."

“Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.”

- Theodore Roosevelt