At the heart of every classic high school movie, aside from the dated fashion and the cheesy dialogue, is the locker. Countless iconic scenes set against lockers cement them as the trademark symbol for high school life. Despite this, a majority of North’s lockers are completely vacant and unused.
The decline in locker usage over the years is largely thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. District 303 students got comfortable with solely using backpacks to carry their materials when locker usage was prohibited during the hybrid model, and the rest is history.
Despite the downward trend in locker use, maybe it is not too late to go back.
From a purely logistical standpoint, lockers are extremely useful. The incessant shoving, trampling and breathing down each other’s necks that occur in North’s hallways would be much less severe if everyone had to reroute their passing period courses to make a locker stop, not to mention it would free up space taken up by the the bags we carry. Lockers also can be used to lighten the loads of those burdensome backpacks and they are a great place to store your coat in the winter months. But unfortunately, no amount of solid logic can convince North students to commit to primarily using their lockers, nor wear a coat to school — another problem in and of itself.
But aside from that, the lack of locker usage is honestly depressing. To amble through the building day in and day out, past abandoned relics that are representative of what once was, is disheartening. For most, the lockers at North serve no other purpose than to be occasionally glanced at. With the near disappearance in use, we are losing sight of a classic high school culture.
Lockers represent a romanticized view of the high school experience, and today’s absence of locker usage is symbolic of our descent into a dismal norm. Nowadays, it seems like high school is about just getting through it. Many students share the mentality of just buckling down and biding time until it is all over, viewing their time in school as a pain. Many do not see the point in putting extra time or energy towards anything besides what is absolutely necessary. As long as students can get from point A to point B, all the while tuning out the world around them, everything works. Everything is fine. Which, to put it simply, is boring. Without lockers, hallways remain mundane and void of spirit.
Perhaps an argument heavily rooted in aesthetics that pines for the nostalgia of a time we never even experienced is not particularly convincing. Realistically, we will probably never see a shift back to regular locker usage because most students argue that traveling between a locker and their classes would be highly inconvenient during their day, which is completely fair. However, maybe convenience shouldn’t be the priority anymore. This desire for ease and simplicity in our daily lives is actively draining society — not just high schools — of any existing charm or character. Backpacks, cellphones and earbuds suck the life out of this once authentic culture, making us want to be anywhere or do anything other than high school. We’re sacrificing the beauty and personality of a vibrant environment for the sake of efficiency and practicality. Plus, what ever happened to doing things just because they are fun to do? Maybe instead of optimizing our convenience, we should be more focused on finding ways to make light of our time spent in high school.
But truthfully, I just miss the ambience of locker culture. I miss getting to know my locker neighbors. I miss decorating my locker with pictures of my friends. Heck, I even miss the ugly wallpaper and corny chandeliers. Though unpopular, lockers represent a desperately needed whimsy and joy that do not seem to exist in the halls of high schools today. Why not try to romanticize the four years of our lives that we spend here? Why not try and make our lives even just a little bit like the movies?
