Reasons why a school should have lockers - can anyone add to the list?

Question

Hey,
Can anyone add to this list? It's for my persuasive task writing thing. Here are the reasons I've come up with, if anyone could add to this, then that would be great :]

- School bags can be heavy, therefore having to carry them 6 hours a day could lead to back pain in later life, and could affect the development and natural 'S' shape of the spine. Could also affect posture
- Place for children to store all their books, therefore reducing the number of children who forget their books. Useful for GCSE / As pupils as alot of work can be covered in the period of one lesson.
- Could reduce inequality between pupils, i.e. some pupils have fashionable bags, whereas others have the bigger, 'uglier' ones. Also 'fashionable' bags could pose health risks as they tend to have smaller straps (e.g. those nike sport bags) compared to the bigger strapped bags.

Right now, I can't seem to think of anymore =/. Any contributions would be of great help, thank you =]

04/11/07:
Thank you all very much for contributing, and thanks to the 2 or 3 who also gave the possible disadvantages. This is all for my GCSE English persuasive letter so having disadvantages as well is a bonus. Thank you all.
P.S. If anyone can still add please do so, will be choosing a best answer today if not tomorrow!.

Answer 1

Storing personal items:
such as personal hygiene.
Lunch and snacks.
Extra apparel ie; coats, sweaters, shoes.

Answer 2

Okay, just not to be boring and give you the same answer as everyone else, not to say they're boring, but you might like to know that I attended a 'grammar school' in the UK in the 1960's, and SHOCK HORROR, we didn't have lockers. There were cloakrooms where you kept your coat and PE kit but other than that you carried everything around with you in your bag. Most of us survived. I usually got told off for bringing a 'duffle bag' which rolled everything up. I suppose that an argument against lockers could be that they take up more space than traditional cloakrooms, space that could be used for teaching or recreation. Also we didn't have to keep going back there at various points in the day to pick stuff up.
Just a thought, if you come up against any counter-arguments.
Good luck.

Answer 3

I can't argue with all the suggestions - they are all very valid.

But, speaking from a school secretary point of view, lockers are a damn pest.

The students lose their keys on a regular basis and come to the secretary's office to borrow the master key, the secretary has to go to the locker room with the student to unlock the locker, just in case the student opens other lockers with the master key.

The secretary has to get new keys cut and then deliver the new key to the student, making out a bill and collecting the money.

Locks get broken and the secretary has to arrange to have them fixed - more cost.

I could go on, but I know this isn't the answer to wanted.

Answer 4

If they are lockable lockers, it can help stop things 'disappearing' - for example, musical instruments

Some stuff my son carries are dangerous - he is forever stabbing his hand on his compasses, for example. If he could leave his 'maths' pencil case in his locker, he would not do it!!! (and he loses anything we put on the compasses, before anyone makes some smart alec remark!)

He has files for some lessons that do not fit easily into his bag (he has a lever arch file for History, for example)

Pieces of paper have less chance of being scrunched into illegible balls at the bottom of the bag, so mum has to iron them flat to fill them in (voice of experience there!)

Stops you having to carry two bags around when you have sports stuff to carry

Somewhere to store 'outdoors' coats in bad weather, rather than carrying them round all day - my son refuses to wear thick coats in winter because of this! As he pointed out, the school is hot and they end up on the back of chairs, lying on the ground and being stepped on. It is also easy to leave a lesson without the coat!

(as for children forgetting books - how about an excuse for getting out of part of a lesson because you have to go back to the locker to fetch it!!!)

Answer 5

Like AnnyOnny, I went to a grammar schoo in the late 60s early 70s, we didn't have lockers and our PE kit was hung up in the cloakroom with our macs and blazers. However, our books were kept in our own desks (proper ones with lids and inkwells) in our form rooms and we just took out what we needed for each lesson.
By contrast, my daughter started at the local senior school in 2006 and they had lockers. I imagine that it would be very expensive for schools to provide desks as I knew them, so tables and lockers are a cheaper option.
However, apart from the reasons you have given, security is the main issue. Yes, some children do steal and at my daughter's school, some of them even tried to break in to various lockers. This was in a comparatively small school, in our very small town (population 6,000) where everyone knows everyone else. I would imagine the problem is much greater in larger towns and cities. When I was at school, our stuff was safe as no-one would have thought of stealing anyone else's belongings.
My daughter is now being home-educated, one of the reasons being that she was fed up with kids stealing and teachers doing nothing about it.

Answer 6

Security...lockers protect students personal items from being stolen...coats, cell phones, ipods, etc.

If students have a place to store school supplies (pencils, paper etc.) they'll be more likely to come to class with these items.

My son went to a school that didn't have lockers and had to carry a giant heavy backpack all year so in my opinion your first reason to have lockers is the best one.

Answer 7

- Safe place to store ipods/phones while doing pe so they don't get stolen.

- Why carry a book around all day when you need it just for last lesson?

- Your own personal space, makes you feel individual and makes your feel more private in school.

- A place to store emergency things, ie womens things and plasters or something,

- Storage for spare pencilcases etc

- Place to store anything valuable, i.e something sedimental, that you want to keep safe, but be able to see everyday

Answer 8

The locker has historically been a meeting place, so it has many social advantages and also it creates a students own space in the school. Im sure you can expand on those two ideas. goodluck.

Answer 9

to store your coat, heavy books-text books, pe kit, valuables-phone, mp3 etc. if you carry a book for a lesson which you have every day,,you dont wanna be carrying it in your bag to and from your school..

Answer 10

Because SOME children steal. But perhaps that would be far too terrible to put on your 'list'. Perhaps, could be reworded with temptation...or things develop legs and 'walk'.