Rows of Empty Lockers a Reminder of a Different Time

by Bridey O’Connor for Walkersville High School Lion’s Pride

Throughout our school career, we have had various receptacles of our school things; cubbies and desks in elementary school, lockers in middle school, and our backpacks in high school.

As we get older and our workload becomes heavier, it seems like we need less and less stuff to bring to school because our assignments are online. More and more often, students are using computers and other devices to complete their school work. Which leaves rows upon rows of lockers standing empty in the halls, like a reminder of a different time.

“I think that students don’t use the lockers because it’s time consuming and there’s no space,” said sophomore Alexys Malone.

“It’s because they’re so small that my backpack can’t fit in them,” freshman Kendall Jackson said.

“I think it’s because we have better ways to store things and don’t need to carry as much as we used to,” senior Nicole Mehring said.

“I believe it’s a matter of keeping their stuff close, even though they don’t have anything to hide,” said secretary Terry Watson. She added, “The students just like carrying around their stuff and it gives them more time to socialize with friends.”

“I think part of it is because the lockers are small and it’s hard to fit anything in them and the fact that the students would rather socialize with friends than go to their lockers to get books,” said assistant principal Sheri Murphy.

“I think it’s mostly so students can have their personal items on them at all times,” said transition education teacher Barry Burch.

So it seems that as time goes on more of our work is online, students will be needing lockers less. They will stand in the halls, empty and cold while students file past them, able to spend more time talking to friends on the way to class instead of going to a locker and grabbing the things needed for their next class. It really looks like the lockers are becoming more useless as time goes on.