The School Locker Phenomenon

My friend Emily over at Mothers of Brothers wrote a great post yesterday about the infamous School Supply List that never existed when we were children, but now comes along with our $7,000 a year school and real estate tax bill (don't get me started). Emily touched on most of the head scratchers and general irritants, including trying to find the very scarce, gender-suited 3-hole punched pencil case. We gave up that search at our house and Abby made hers out of duct tape. No surprise there. Emily's reflections on the million dollar calculator also rang true, and brought back painful memories of a certain child telling me the day before some big test that his had been "stolen" months before. We won't go into it.

Since Emily so effectively covered the school supply list, I'd like to address the phenomenon that is the School Locker. While I knew Ian had a locker (and that his new backpack was "stolen" out of it on the second day of 6th grade), my sense was that it was just a place where school work, test results, and winter coats went to die. Now that Abby is off to middle school, however, I'm seeing the locker in a whole new light. Clearly, this is a "girl thing."

A couple weeks ago, as I shopped for school supplies, Abby shopped for locker decor including a mirror and a shelf with which to raise items up off the floor. The floor for which she made a carpet, by the way. Abby didn't stop with the hand-crafted locker carpet. Among her homemade locker accouterments:

• Bulletin board decorated with splatter paint and a duct tape border 
• Pencil holder (made out of old duct tape rolls and covered in duct tape)
• Rose magnets made out of duct tape (we bought magnet tape and a hot glue gun just for this locker decorating project)

• Monthly calendar
• Hanging basket

I was glad she stopped before insisting on the locker chandelier. I kid you not.

 

I had to remind Abby that she wasn't actually going to be living in her locker.

  

I, for one, have no memories whatsoever of decorating the inside of my locker, but then again I always was out of the loop on what was fashionable. It turns out that Abby is not alone, however. Tween and teen girls across the nation take locker decor very seriously. An informal survey of 600 Facebook friends revealed these critical locker elements, in order of importance:

1. Cool magnets
2. Mirror
3. Lock type and color (don't know that Abby had an option here)
4. White board and erasable marker
5. Pen holder
6. Picture frames
7. Magnetic clips
8. Parker Stevenson Teen Beat Cover

While I think all of this locker hoopla is a bit much, ultimately if it brightens up Abby's day, I see no harm it. In fact, as modes of self-expression go, I'd much prefer a tricked out locker to piercings, ink, make up, and hair dye.

 

Now I'm just hoping she remembers the combination...