Lockers are a common school symbol, and both McAnally and the middle school have them. But why doesn’t the high school have lockers when many students may have to carry class books  or projects for classes around?

Some benefits of lockers are obvious, like having a space to keep personal items. Lockers provide security and protection for students’ electronics, which could also play a factor in keeping phones out of the classroom and keeping students engaged.

In addition, students complain about back problems, as demonstrated in a study from spine-health.com, which says that carrying a backpack can “distort the natural curves in the middle and lower back, causing muscle strain and irritation to the spine joints and the rib cage.” Lockers could give students back pain relief from overweight backpacks.

Lockers could also teach students time management skills, as students would have to balance going to their locker, fighting crowds and get to class within the passing period.  

However, there are many downsides to lockers, such as the lack of space available in the high school and lack of funding to support them. Lockers would may increase crowding in the hallways and decrease hallway space. Students would be responsible for cleaning them out at the end of the school year, with a few forgetting and leaving that problem to the janitors. The bullying opportunities would also arise and cause more hassle for the police doing drug searches. Many students that said they would not like lockers, claim that they wouldn’t ever use them. This utilization issue could conclude that putting in lockers is simply a waste of space and money.

Lockers could be a possible option for the future of the high school, but for now, the lack of space and funding provided, as well as a lack of interest from students, puts lockers at Aledo low on the to-do list.