Every elementary school student was eager to enter middle school and high school, having a locker. Today, at Wilsonville High School and around the nation, students rarely prioritize lockers for storing their backpacks and belongings, leaving things in classrooms or their cars when needed.
Back in the 90s, the social aspect of school was lockers where everyone would hang out during passing periods, talk about their classes, and get the books and materials they needed for their periods.
Often, students use the downstairs locker rooms for sports. These days, students drop bags and things off in classrooms.
A huge reason why they don’t use lockers is that students don’t have enough time and don’t have too many books in their bags.
Junior Yehia Moussa reflects on this, stating, “Nowadays, you don’t really need to use lockers because we don’t really have much time to put our stuff in, and with lots of the assignments being on computers, we don’t need as many journals and notebooks to carry around in our backpacks.”
Lockers used to be a popular thing during passing time. Students would transition through the hallway, talk to their friends, and put their books and notebooks in their lockers for their next class.
The social aspect of lockers has changed; students don’t transition from class to their lockers; instead, students gather near their classrooms in the hallways.
Students used to decorate their lockers with stickers and notes from friends, but today, you only see a little bit of creativity on lockers from students who access them.
The consensus of why people don’t use lockers is the inconvenience; students feel that having a locker isn’t needed in today’s generation.
Moussa points out, “The line of lockers is more about a shift through technology and efficiency as education adapts to the new age with fewer books and more.”
With A and B block days and fewer times to transition through the building, students think it is less convenient and won’t have time to get to class on time.
The lockers nowadays being used are in the locker rooms by athletes. Jace Norquist establishes, “For soccer, we have lockers if we need them, but oftentimes it is easier to drop my bags off in someone’s car or classroom, being more convenient.”
With the locker room being downstairs for athletes, students often have.
Before this school year, students were able to be on their phones, but with the cell phone ban, students, although they are not using lockers, are getting the social aspect back in schools, which was lacking.
But with phones being banned, staff and students believe the social and physical aspects of school are coming back into schools and environments.
Overall, students don’t prioritize or need the use of lockers for a change of technology, and society finds different ways to socialize in school.