A Change in Lockers

By Kristen Fu
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High school students have increasingly neglected using the lockers. Most students carry their backpack along with all their school materials around with them, undermining the need for lockers. While some students still use their lockers for sports and other activities, the practicality of lockers has greatly decreased. Due to this drop in locker usage, the administration has toyed with the idea of changing the current lockers with electronic lockers that require passcodes in order to be opened.

The current lockers are individually designated for each student. This means that each student has a single locker that only they have the password to. However, many students do not use their lockers. This is because the lockers are often located in places that are far from the students’ classes. It also requires time to go back and forth between lockers and classes, something that students are often too lazy to do.

Because of the inconvenience of the current lockers, the administration has proposed changing them into electronic lockers. These lockers will be free for anyone to use, anywhere and anytime. The students simply have to put their items in, enter a passcode of their choosing, and close the locker. When they decide to take their items out, the students simply have to enter their passcode and take their items out. This will supposedly allow the lockers to be more convenient and accessible for students by allowing them to use any locker.

The proposed change for the lockers has sparked conversation amongst high school students. Supporters of the change has claimed that since most students don’t use their lockers regularly, it would be more convenient if all the lockers were open to students. Michelle Zhou, a junior, stated that “It’s a good thing because I know most people don’t use their lockers anyway. In the winter, we have coats that we don’t want to carry around, so if the lockers were temporary, it would be more convenient.” This was a common argument that was echoed amongst many students.

Other people, however, were more hesitant to accept the change or ambivalent to the issue altogether. Some students were concerned about the size of the electronic lockers. Sonia Loo commented that “the electronic lockers seem significantly smaller than the original ones, so that seems kind of inconvenient or practical for people.” Other students enjoyed having their own individual lockers to use as a separate space for their personal items. Hanwen Cao commented, “I don’t support it. I like my locker.” In the junior class chat, many people also raised the idea of allowing students to have a choice between a normal locker and an electronic one. Most students appear to be reluctant to provide their full support for this plan.

Although the proposal to change the lockers is still not set, the idea has already sparked debates on the feasibility and effectiveness of this decision. As yet another change made by the administration, students have not been shy to debate the merits and shortcomings of this plan. Ultimately, the proposal to implement electronic lockers may stay just that: an idea.