During the first week of school, I acquired three textbooks, was required to make two binders for classes and carry all of my school essentials. Needless to say, having a locker was important to me.

At first, lockers were not available to students. After students approached administration, it was decided to assign lockers after the first couple of weeks of school had passed. It was exciting for me, as well as my fellow classmates who also wanted a locker.

While waiting for a locker, I carried a backpack, lunchbox and another tote bag with all of my textbooks.

I believe having lockers is not only convenient but important for those with so many books and involved with multiple activities. When students are assigned a locker at the beginning of the year, the expectation is that they will get to keep it for the entire year and use it at their leisure.

According to principal Phil Bressler, a vast majority of lockers in the building are projected to be removed by the end of the year.

“We are going to have a bank on the west cross hall, half of the bank on the east cross hall and some lockers in the north vestibule,” Bressler said. “We’re going to go from well over 600 lockers to about 190 lockers.”

The main hall has already had a majority of the lockers removed and during winter break the remaining senior lockers will also be removed.

“[The senior lockers] will be going away because they will begin the demolition of that section and that wall is coming out,” Bressler said. “What we will do is call those kids in and say ‘okay you are going to lose your locker, do you want a locker in another area?’”

Seniors wait three years to get a locker in the senior section. Some lockers are even decorated with pictures and is considered a tradition. In addition, all lockers will be in the cross halls not conveniently accessible.

Taking away lockers will have a significant impact on students, considering that each student usually has multiple textbooks in their possession.

To me personally, carrying a heavy backpack full of books that may not even be used that day is useless. Even if the backpack is comfortably made, that doesn’t mean that after a few weeks of hauling it around, it will still be comfortable.

According to Kidshealth.org, over time [carrying a backpack] can cause the shoulders to become rounded and the upper back to become curved. Because of the heavyweight, there’s a chance of developing shoulder, neck and back pain.

Teachers should tell students the day before if their textbooks are going to be needed, rather than making them carry them around all day.

“There was the elimination of lockers in the plan and there are no new lockers being added. So at this point, unless something changes, we will only have 180-190 lockers left,” Bressler said. “If we have to add more lockers at some point, we will have to figure out where they will fit.”

A course of action that could be taken is transitioning to online textbooks and incorporating a technology-based learning system, sooner rather than later.

Most students have access to a computer or a smartphone, so by moving the focus from textbooks to technology, it would eliminate the need for lockers and would also be environmentally friendly.

“Paperless school?” More like, “paperless is cool.”