Middle school was the period when students at North Allegheny Intermediate High finally received lockers. Students would be elated and always jumped at the chance to decorate their lockers with brightly colored shelves, vibrant magnets, and gleaming mirrors. 

By the time NA students get to high school though, things are different. Lockers become annoying. The locks are old and hard to use. The inside is an ugly orange color and everything is rusty. No one has a locker near their friends and they are always far away from all their classes. 

Freshman Sabrina Balent enjoys not having to use the lockers in high school. In middle school, students were not allowed to carry their backpacks with them, which forced her to put all of her belongings in her locker. But, because that restriction doesn’t exist in high school, she barely uses her locker. “If we were forced to not have our backpacks on us, then I would use it more. But I like having my backpack on me,” she says.

Freshman Marina Chiosea doesn’t use her locker either. “I opened it once at orientation. For all I know, a colony of squirrels lives there now,” she jokes. Because her locker is far from all of her classes, it’s easier for her to carry everything in her backpack. She feels that there isn’t much the school could do to enable her to use her locker more, as she imagines it would be difficult for the school to move everyone’s lockers to be closer to all their classes.

Chiosea also doesn’t use her locker because she always would have trouble opening it. She suggested that if there were easily available instructions or if the locks could be opened using a key, she would consider using it more. 

Because the lockers are no longer being used, students rely heavily on backpacks in order to transport their materials from class to class, which causes potential problems.

According to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, the incorrect placement of a backpack could cause the student to lean forward in order to counteract the backward pull of the backpack. This causes strain on the spine and bad posture, leading to lasting effects. Backpacks with narrow straps could also dig into the shoulders. 

However, Freshman Maisha Agarwal feels that backpacks were a necessary evil. To her, they are the most convenient tools for storing and carrying around supplies. Using carts or suitcases would block up the hallways, and using different types of bags would only put more strain on students’ backs.

Chiosea suggested that as a solution, schools could push for more electronic-based assignments, as opposed to paper ones. It would lighten the weight on students’ shoulders. Plus, it would also prevent students from forgetting their homework at home because the students usually keep their laptops with them. 

Because of the lockers’ lack of use, Chiosea believed that the lockers should be removed completely from new schools, and instead, the space should be used to make the classrooms bigger. She says that many of her classes were pretty cramped and would benefit from the extra space. To her, this is especially important amidst a global pandemic, where close contact can be harmful to students and faculty’s health.

Lockers may no longer be the solution to relieving students of the heavy weight.