Are Lockers Obsolete?

BY MEAGAN LAUDENSLAGER
It used to be a fact that lockers were something of a social hub where students would hang out, socialize, and relax before school and between classes, but that is changing very fast. With more schools moving to computer based learning, students have fewer textbooks to carry around, making something like a locker to store all of those books an endangered species.
In earlier years, lockers also used to be a part of a student’s life, and was something that they were attached to, as it would get decorated to their personal touch. However, that sentimental value is fading away.
“It  used to be so fun in middle school because we would all get together behind the person’s back, get their locker combination, and get to the school really early while one friend was distracting the friend with the birthday,” recalls junior  Maria Menoutis. “I’m kinda sad that isn’t how it is now, but times have changed, and we aren’t in middle school anymore. I guess we just grow out of those sorts of things.”
Lockers have also become increasingly unnecessary. Since students carry backpacks with them in high school, it is a lot easier for them to fit everything they need in their backpack. According to an article in the  Washington Post by Joe Heim, some students don’t know where their locker is, let alone use it. In fact, since there is a decrease in the use of lockers, one school mentioned in the article, Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax County, has removed all of the lockers, and replaced them with cubbies where students could put things like their jacket or something that they didn’t need in class with them.
Students at Canton High School agree that lockers have become virtually unnecessary. When twenty juniors and seniors were asked if they used their lockers, fifteen of them said no. The five who did use their lockers, only use them to store their coat and lunchbox, and put away the materials that they don’t need that night for homework. Junior Andrea Bustamante said, “I’ve only used my locker like once. I don’t even know the combination, or even know where it is.”
Overall, the  trend is that high school students aren’t using their lockers as much as the previous generation, and the use of lockers is only going to decrease over the next ten years. So for the parents who remember having an attachment to their locker in high school, their kids most likely won’t even know if they had one.