Students at Bishop McDevitt High School have had the privilege to carry around their backpacks during school hours and were able to take them from class to class making transportation of books much easier. For the upcoming 2021-2022 school year, administrators have decided to revoke this privilege as it is a safety hazard incase of fire as well as a tripping hazard. 

While this is all true, many of us students have grown a comfort level of being able to use backpacks during the day where this makes switching classes much easier, makes going to the restroom in between classes much easier especially for female students, and helps students keep track of where their belonging are and having a comfort level of having all your things on your person. It’s not easy making a first floor to third floor change with a backpack and can’t imagine it being any easier have to carry all your textbooks in a shorter amount of time. Most students have grown accustom to the 5 minutes change in between classes and find it much less stressful trying to make it to class on time. Having a backpack also helps lessen the chances of dropping all of your books and papers in the middle of the busy hallway or if you fall up the stairs which happens more often than you think due to the style of our uniform shoes and also human nature. Another thing, teens now a day NEED privacy more than anything, not to be sneaky and bring stuff into school that they don’t want adults knowing about, but just out of their own anxieties and comfort. Administration has offered an alternative for bags called a “sack pack” and while their efforts are seen, their efforts might not be appreciated as well as they hoped and I would hate to see them use money and something that students would disregard in a second. Students have already bought their new bags anticipating that they would be using it all day everyday, and while these sack packs seem like a good idea, when they break, we’ll have to go out spend MORE money and replace them on our own when we don’t agree with this decision.

Another reason this right have been revoked, student have brought their vaping devices to school and have abused the privilege of having their bags on hand. Instead of taking this very convenient resource away from the students who haven’t done anything wrong, punish those who actually have done something and take that right away after the fact. As a solution to the bags being a safety hazard, we can hang the bags on the back of our seats so they’re not sitting on the floor or we keep them on the counters on the side of the classroom below the windows or on the other side. 

Administration, please be opened minded on rethinking this decision. 

**Extra Note: This petition wasn’t made to sound like it’s a bunch of Catholic School students complaining about not getting what they want or that we’re just too lazy to carry our own books. McD hasn’t always allowed backpacks and if you ask past students they would just say let it go and that they learned to deal with it, but as a generation, we’re taught to not let these type of things go. If it’s truly important to you, why wouldn’t you speak up? Why would you just let it go and hope it fixes itself?The students of McD and our friends believe that this is a cause worth fighting for.