Losing lockers: the disappearance of a social space in US middle schools and high schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lockers in middle schools and high schools in the United States are currently disappearing. Due to safety concerns and digitalized textbooks and other school supplies, lockers are becoming obsolete. As larger societal and technological changes drive this trend, the loss of lockers as a shared social space demands careful attention and consideration. Many students use lockers as a means in which to project their identities and membership in different social groups. At the same time, visiting lockers during passing periods provides students opportunities to run into (often literally) students from other social groups, creating unique possibilities for relationship-building that are rare in other school spaces. As social and political polarization continues to intensity in the US and other countries around the world, the loss of lockers in American schools can serve as a caution of the consequences that accrue from disappearing shared social spaces.