Do you ever wonder why a lot of seniors have children’s backpacks? This is part of the trend of senior backpacks that honor childhood with cartoons that seniors may have loved when they were younger. Backpacks covered in Disney princesses and Marvel superheroes are extremely common, giving seniors a sense of nostalgia by embracing their inner child in their last year of high school.
“My freshman year, I hung out with a bunch of seniors who had them, and it seemed like a fun idea,” said senior Caleb Miller. “This is our last year, [so] why not make it [as] fun as it can possibly be before going into the real world.”
Seniors and their backpacks on the first day of school. They showed off their bags in the student parking lot and in classrooms, explaining how their bags relate to their personality and childhood. “I saw a lot of TikToks of seniors from around the country getting kiddie backpacks, and I thought it was a really fun idea to celebrate my senior year,” said senior Isaiah Bolden. “I chose a dinosaur backpack because I was really into dinosaurs when I was a kindergartener and I wanted to display that.”
One problem with this trend is that kiddie backpacks aren’t made to carry all the materials high schoolers need, such as Chromebooks, binders, and notebooks.
“I definitely want to get either a backpack that has characters from a show I used to watch or something that represents a character I relate to now,” said junior Charlotte Kernutt. “If I do end up getting a backpack, it [has] to be big enough to carry my things because [I will not bring an extra bag].”
This trend can be traced back as far back as 2008, and it is not just local. According to Parents.Com, “no matter when the trend began… it is still going strong across the country.”
“I think kiddie backpacks are so popular because it’s one more way to stay childlike before graduating and growing up,” said English teacher Lacy Krell.
For more information on the trend on a national level, check out Fox 5 News Article TikTok ‘Kiddie backpack’ trend sweeping high schools with nostalgia or Griffin Gazette Article ‘Back’ to the past: Seniors wearing little-kid backpacks.
