SHIOCTON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – With a new school year, comes new changes.
At Shiocton High School, that means no more backpacks.
Freshmen there were finally going to be able to put on new backpacks.
“Sixth, 7th, and 8th – they can’t take their backpacks to their classes, so they’re very used to that, but there was the ‘rite of passage,’ as you became an 8th grader going into a 9th grader,” said Shiocton School District administrator Nichole Schweitzer. “You were looking forward to being able to carry your backpack because you’re finally in high school!”
She tells FOX 11 they’ll now have to wait a little bit longer.
“The safety, the instruction, and the development really outplayed and outweighed what, you know, the rite of passage would otherwise have held.”
Schweitzer says it’s bye-bye backpacks in classrooms this year.
“You would see bags and backpacks littering the aisles, and it really did pose a safety issue that if we needed to get out in an urgent, or even an emergency situation, you were going to have to walk over bags and backpacks.”
A year-long study by the district also found backpacks can harm a student’s spinal development.
“The amount of weight the kids were carrying around… and they don’t put the double harnesses on, like you should, so it’s typically over one shoulder or the other,” said Schweitzer.
Students won’t get extra time to go to their lockers between classes, but Schweitzer says they won’t need it.
“There is plenty of time in passing but, just to be sure, we have reorganized our locker assignments to make sure that students are assigned lockers closest to where the majority of their classes are.”
Teachers and students say backpack-free classrooms are working better than they thought.
“This is truly working for our kids!” Schweitzer said.
District leaders say not having backpacks in class has also improved teaching. Teachers can now get around the classroom a lot easier to interact with students.
Purses and small bags, like the cases students use for their school Chromebooks, are still allowed.
