The COVID pandemic has brought a lot of negative energy to our lives. Our daily activities have changed for the foreseeable future and made life just a little bit more difficult. When thinking about some positives that have come out of the pandemic, my mind went blank. I was determined to find something because I was always taught to look for a silver lining and not have a negative mindset about any situation. This determined mindset has brought me to school backpacks.

Throughout my entire school experience going back to kindergarten, I have never carried a backpack with me. I thought maybe since I have been a private school kid my whole life that it was just something we did differently than public schools. When asking my friends about it, I heard mixed responses. Some people I knew at public schools were allowed backpacks as I had thought in my logic, but some of my friends also had no backpacks at public school. This difference in policy across the board showed me that there was not one singular factor behind the ban of backpacks.

Before the COVID era, banning the act of carrying around a backpack was accepted, but now I feel it should be an option for the student.

The backpack has been around for thousands of years. It has been used by humans as a convenient and less strenuous way to carry a great many items. This product has been a part of school life for people since before most of us were born. Before the Hybrid learning change at BSM, I had never carried a backpack before and hadn’t realized what I was missing.

The first day we were allowed to carry backpacks, school felt much easier. With all my items within my backpack, I never had to worry about not having my notebook or homework. I also did not have to waste my time walking to my locker between classes, which allowed me to be more efficient in my studies.

In addition to being easier for me as a student, it has also kept me safer in the school environment. The ability to have all my items with me meant that there was less chance to be exposed to COVID, and has also stopped me from spreading my germs to people when visiting my locker.

In my research, I have found very few reasons to have stopped the carrying of backpacks, and feel that, especially in the COVID era, backpacks should be allowed for students to carry. I also think they should stay when this pandemic is behind us because they’re beneficial for students in their school lives. With more pressure building on the shoulders of students, every option that can ease stress should be enacted– even if that means adding a little bit of weight to their shoulders physically.