As school safety continues to be a national concern for K-12 district leaders, one district is taking steps to ensure the safety of its students by placing a ban on backpacks.
Leaders in Knox County Schools in Kentucky announced this ban for middle and high schools in the district. By disallowing backpacks, Knox County Schools hopes to address two key concerns.
Concealing items
The first and most obvious reason for this ban is to remove the opportunity for students to carry a concealed weapon into their schools, eliminating one potential method of smuggling a gun into classrooms. This is important because often the perpetrators of school shootings are students themselves.
In addition to concealing firearms, such a ban could also eliminate the possibility of students bringing in drugs and alcohol. This was the case for Granger High School in Washington state in 2018, which announced a ban on backpacks and purses on its Facebook page to remove any temptation of sneaking in weapons, drugs or alcohol.
Physical health
Another concern Knox County Schools is addressing is the physical toll carrying heavy backpacks has on a student’s physical health, such as their posture and joints.
Knox County Schools Spokesman Frank Shelton told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the need for a backpack has been eliminated thanks to federal COVID-19 funds. The district will use these funds to purchase school supplies, such as pencils, papers and other necessities that a student would normally bring on their own. Additionally, the district will provide materials that are specific to class projects and other curricular activities. Textbooks are also often kept in the classroom, removing the need for students to carry such heavy class-specific materials.
In past efforts to ban backpacks in other schools, students inevitably found a way to get around the rules. In October of 2021, Jefferson School District 251 in Idaho banned the use of backpacks for students of Rigby Middle School in Jefferson County, which resulted in students mocking the ban by using other vessels as an alternative including laundry baskets, children’s toys, and even popcorn machines.
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