According to the source All Students Get Lockers, Not Many Use Them, 8.8 percent of 204 students say they regularly use their locker, while 91.2 percent claim they do not. 60 percent assure that their lockers are in inconvenient locations, which supports that 79.4 percent state it is not crucial to use a locker during the school day. 

Adelyne Collin (‘22) recalls using her locker frequently the past two years, but with the new locker restrictions BFA has imposed, due to Covid-19 and trying to limit students gathering in the hallway, Collin claims she is affected negatively. 

“I prefer lockers because I have a lot of stuff and I need my locker. My bag does not fit anything,” Collin said. 

When asked how often Collin actually used her locker before this year, she voiced that she was stopping at her locker location every other class for her materials. 

“[I was stopping] probably every other period [last year] because I had [a] small… bag and kept all my belongings in my locker,” Collin said. “I’ve had to downsize all my binders, my lunchbox… I can’t fit everything [in my backpack].”  

When presented the question of whether or not she wanted to use her locker again this school year, Collin couldn’t have agreed more. 

“Lockers give the opportunity to have more storage for school supplies,” Collin said.  

As seen with Collin, the locker restrictions have affected some students negatively, but what about the students who rarely used their lockers in the previous school years? William Austin (‘23), said he only used his locker “once or twice in a whole year.” 

“Only using a backpack at school has shortened my trips between classes. It condenses my learning materials into a portable and accessible bag that I carry around with me. I find using a backpack to be much more convenient than using a locker due to the fact that it can hold a variety of things I need in an organized way, since most have pouches and different compartments,” Austin said. 

Upon asking if he would support lockers being presented back into the school, Austin disagreed for safety purposes. 

“If BFA decided to let students use their lockers again, I would be opposed to this decision. I think that right now, it’s important to keep our distance from each other, and lockers do not support this,” Austin said.  

Austin prefers to use a backpack and believes lockers are unnecessary for any student. Austin does support the idea that lockers are a nice feature to possess at school, but are not crucial in a learning environment.  

“In [the] case that at some point in the near future, we no longer have to physically distance, I would be in favor of this action. Lockers, even though unessential, in my opinion, are a nice thing to keep personal belongings that one might need while at school. Many people do use them and I’d hate to see them completely taken away after we are able to safely use them again,” Austin said. 

For Grace Peyrat (‘22), locker restrictions have not affected her as much as other students. She said her locker is in an inconvenient location, but she occasionally uses it during the winter season for her winter-related possessions. 

“I can’t really use my locker efficiently because it’s so far away from all of my classes, but I do like it to keep things like extra shoes or coats… usually I use my backpack to transport everything,” Peyrat said. 

Since Peyrat’s elementary school did not have lockers, she said it has made it easier for her to adapt.

“I’ve used only a backpack since I was in elementary [school], so it hasn’t affected me as much as it could’ve… [my backpack] has gotten heavier since we got our lockers taken away,” Peyrat said. 

When it comes to the topic of lockers, each individual will have a different opinion. What are your thoughts? Lockers or backpacks?