By Sophia ’24
Lockers are a part of daily life, and to many people like myself, they’re incredibly useful and helpful. However, I noticed that many of my peers don’t use their lockers, despite the benefits. So, I’ve decided to address some of the more common issues of locker usage, as well as the importance of using your locker.
For those who don’t know, lockers are your own personal space where you can put your materials between classes instead of having to carry everything around in your backpack the whole day. As you can probably imagine, your backpack would be extremely heavy if you kept everything on it, which leads to back pain, something you definitely don’t want, especially if you’re a student athlete. In addition, backpacks get messy easily, with all your shoving around. Lockers, on the other hand, are stationary and a much safer place than backpacks. They’re also easier to keep your books organized in a shelf manner by classes, so that everything can be seen clearly. Sorting through your materials is such a simple task that it takes five minutes max to do. It’s quick and easy, and beneficial for you as a student. This way, when going to class, you only need to bring the materials you need instead of everything. This is way more efficient than shoving everything onto your poor back.
Some people have brought up the issue of time. However, getting into a locker doesn’t take that much time, and most people can get across campus in two or three minutes easily. I’d argue that having well-organized and neat materials ready for class is more important than saving those few extra minutes, where you’d probably just be scrolling through social media anyway. If you’re one of those people who can’t open locks, not all lockers even require locks on them.
I also know of someone who doesn’t bother using their locker because they’re worried they might leave something in there. While this is a valid concern, I’d point out that leaving your stuff at school is just as common as leaving your notebook at home by accident. In this case, would you just not bother opening your backpack at home at all? Of course not! In addition, people can get a bulk of their work done during free periods/blocks too, meaning that’s less stuff needed to take home. In fact, perhaps by the end of your day, you only need to bring home a thin folder- why would you carry your heavy math textbook with you as well? By this logic, by bringing everything home, you risk leaving everything at home! There’s just no point in doing this to yourself. At the end of the day, it’s your health that’s getting affected.
Another concern I’ve heard is that students don’t want to walk across campus to access their locker between every single class. At the middle school, you can lump your classes together and carry the stuff you need for all your classes up to the next X period (usually this is four classes max). At the upper school, there’s so much time between classes that it’s ridiculous not to have time to walk to your locker. Lockers at the middle school are sorted by grade, and are a place for bonding between your classmates. At the upper school, where people choose their own lockers, the site is usually centered around where most of their classes are- it’s not such a long walk. Time is not an issue, and either is energy, if you manage your minutes right.
