No classic teen movie is complete without a scene set beside a character’s locker, the tall metallic monolith to high school culture. 

The locker is a timeless staple of American high schools, going hand in hand with other iconic symbols like ringing bells and homecoming games. Why, then, do the lockers of Commack High School go largely unused, leaving them as nothing more than phenomenally ugly wall decorations? 

“I’ve never used my locker, I’ve only occasionally borrowed my brother’s locker,” said junior Max L.

Other than stashing the odd jacket, most students disregard their school issued storage space entirely, opting instead to carry all of their belongings. The refusal of some is so stubborn that they will wear two backpacks at once; One full of academic materials, and another across the chest containing athletic equipment. Clearly something about the modern high school experience deters students from using their lockers. Despite being of little use in a modern high school setting, students of years past were highly reliant upon them.

“I definitely used my locker [in high school], that’s for sure. I feel like half of the classes or so required me to bring a textbook, and I remember going to my locker to switch out notebooks and binders,” said math teacher Jaclyn Ingald.

The advent of technology becoming so readily available to all Commack students may have a part to play in the locker’s widespread neglect. In the past, students were expected to bring weighty textbooks to and from each class, which would be far too heavy to carry all day. 

Lockers were a necessity in a time when required school materials weighed several pounds. Today, however, most textbook materials have been made accessible digitally on school issued Chromebooks, one of which weighs far less than the numerous books of yesteryear. 

One’s distance from their locker may also discourage the extra effort of journeying to the storage space. Navigating the twists and turns of Commack High School can be a struggle as is, making the chore of an additional pitstop greatly unappealing.

This shift has contributed to the locker’s loss of day to day relevance, but it still comes in handy during more situational occasions.

“I have to put my phone there [during testing]. Sometimes they’ll let you put it at the front of the room, but you can’t count on that. Then I won’t be able to take my Regents or AP exam that day, and those are important,” said junior Ari S.

Days where testing takes place may be the last remaining hope for the lockers at CHS. As cellphones are typically not allowed to be on a student’s person when sitting for the SAT, AP exams, or other standardized tests, they will be stored in lockers. Many students who’ve never bothered to learn their lockers’ location or combination will resort to borrowing the space of a more well prepared friend. Nonetheless, standardized testing provides the last remaining remnant of the locker’s glory days.

Despite still possessing some occasional usefulness, lockers have become far less necessary in Commack High School than they once were. Technology has more or less replaced the need to haul large textbooks across the school, making frequent pit stops at one’s locker a waste of precious time. It’s unclear if these compartments will one day be removed, or if their ghostly presence is doomed to lie unused and deteriorating throughout the halls.🔳