With the replacement of textbooks with computers, and social interactions with social media, lockers have transitioned from a useful school tool to a metal box in the way of students.

The Washington Post recently interviewed students from various schools nationwide all of which rarely, if ever, use their lockers.

More and more students across the nation have been disregarding lockers as a necessary and useful space to store school

This tendency not to use their school lockers has recently expanded so much so that, currently, schools have begun to remove individual lockers, and newfound schools have rejected lockers from building plans altogether.

“I would always want to lean towards what’s going to make the students day at school easier and more user-friendly to create a better learning environment,” Principal Tom Albertson said.

Albertson shared his views on the end-of-locker transition in the United States, and the possibility of this idea being incorporated at Sandpoint High School.

“If it was having wider hallways and not taking the space up for that [lockers] and putting the funds into something else, that would be where I would lean,” Albertson said.

When requested to take a poll to determine locker usage in the school, 68 percent of students responded that they either don’t use their school lockers, or are impartial about their views regarding school lockers.

“I see it as a useless waste of space and money that could go to other things like sports and better education,” Senior Cole Dillon said. “With how everything’s going to computer format we now only need to carry a computer in our backpacks, a few pencils and pieces of paper.”

A large portion of students’ disuse of their school lockers is attributed to the short amount of time in between classes available to retrieve their belongings from their lockers, as well as the limited amount of time during passing periods.

Many students have resorted to carrying all their necessities for the day with them in their backpacks.

The rest of the student body, 32 percent, believes school lockers to be helpful in storing their belongings for the day.

Although Sandpoint is not yet believed to be at a stage that would warrant locker removal, it is an idea that is taken to mind by administration.

They will consider these changes based upon what is in the best interest of students.

“If I had a magic wand and could build a brand new school I would really want the students’ input and parents’ input before going to the expense of putting lockers in,” Albertson said.