Lockers are a major aspect of schools; they depict the layout of schools, make the hallway a norm, and no one is using them. Locker usage has seriously declined in recent years. When IHS started allowing students to bring their backpacks to class, locker usage hit an all time low. Before that rule was put in place, it was mandatory to know where your locker was. You had to put your backpack in your locker at the start of the day and then make a visit in between each class. After the rule was put in place, students could just fill their backpacks and take it with them from class to class. Students stopped going to their lockers completely and most kids don’t even know their locker combination.

There are many factors that contribute to this phenomenon. I believe that technology is the main reason lockers aren’t being used anymore. At Ipswich High School, the Chromebook has taken the place of many textbooks and binders. The majority of the work I do in school is on a computer and saved in the cloud. Gone are the days of handwriting every assignment and the copious amount of paper it required. Most students at IHS don’t use their lockers; the only lockers that see consistent use are the gym lockers. Students need a place to store their backpacks and clothing while in gym class, but lack the textbooks and binders needed to justify the use of a conventional locker.

Seniors are here on their last few weeks at Ipswich high school. When asking Ian Profenno, a senior here at Ipswich High School, about his locker use, he responded with, “To be honest with you, I’ve never even been to my locker at all.” When I asked my mother, Kerrie Bates, about her experience with lockers in high school she had a lot to say. “My favorite thing about lockers was knowing where my friends lockers were, so I always knew where to find them when I needed them.” Kerrie said that she used her locker everyday and so did her peers. At the time it was the norm to use a locker, but now it seems as if it has reverted. The norm nowadays is to not even know where your locker is. Lockers take up so much space in schools.

Schools are, and have been for hundreds of years, designed around lockers. The hallway and locker combo is such a deeply engraved construct; it’s hard to imagine what a school could be like without them. Removing lockers would free up a massive amount of space. The possibilities of what you could do with that much space in a school are endless. If you were to make the school more compact you could reduce the time given in between classes to be more efficient. Schools could have larger classrooms and work in tighter knit communities. Not only would it save space and time, removing lockers would make schools safer. Searching lockers is a time consuming, inefficient, and sometimes scary ordeal. There have been locker searches at Ipswich High School, cops dogs and all. Not only is it disruptive to class and requires a lock down, it can really scare students. Another way removing lockers could improve the safety of a school is if there was a fire. Hallways are long and tight and act as a choke point when trying to evacuate the entire school.

Although that locker usage has seriously declined in recent years, I have no doubt that they will live on. The locker is a staple to the school experience. You didn’t really go to high school if you didn’t get stuffed in a locker by an upperclassmen. Lockers have been around for years and although our physical lockers may be rather empty our internet lockers are filled to the brim.