You’re making your way through the hall on the way to your next class, tired and ready to go home. As you’re walking, you glance up and notice that the backpack in front of you is small, brightly colored, and covered in glitter and reflective plastic. The Disney princesses smile up at you from the pink fabric, and you can’t help but smile back.
Most people have probably noticed that in the past year or two, there has been an exponential rise in the number of “little kid” backpacks in the hallways. This isn’t a coincidence, but a trend popularized by social media and referred to as “senior backpacks.” Despite the name, not only seniors sport these colorful backpacks, and they can range anywhere from Frozen and Hello Kitty to Spiderman and Paw Patrol.
What’s interesting about this trend in particular is that twenty years ago, it would have been unthinkable for anyone to wear anything the slightest bit childish to school. Now, high schoolers proudly and happily display them, embracing their love for bright colors, glitter, and their favorite childhood characters.
This trend is part of a major shift in attitude over the past two decades. Everyone knows the trope of high school as an extremely hierarchical and volatile environment, where anything that singled someone out could get them isolated from the rest of the students, or worse. This is popularized by the movies made around the time, such as Mean Girls, She’s All That and Easy A. Although these sorts of movies definitely exaggerate this, there is some truth to it. Bullying and social isolation were extremely big problems in the early 2000s, and although they still are, there seems to have been a significant decline, at least in high schools.
These backpacks seem to demonstrate the movement of teenagers away from that clichéd, cruel structure and towards a more accepting and diverse society. When people are able to celebrate the parts of themselves that connect them to their childhood and their most authentic selves, they feel more understood and accepted for who they are.
I think that this trend, although simple on the surface, is a huge step in the right direction for the culture of the youth. These backpacks allow us to express ourselves, and remind us that we don’t need to be adults or grow up as fast as we can. It’s important to remember to enjoy our childhoods, even as them come to an end. So, the next time you walk past a Bluey, Minecraft or Barbie backpack at Target, consider picking out your favorite for school the next day.
