Niles West likes to adopt many new ideas. We’ve got new construction, new food, and now we have a new system of how our locker rooms function. Bizarre. Although I haven’t had the “privilege” to be red locked, yet at least, I still find the theory of the arrangement quite…dumb.

This is what I know about how it works. Let’s say you have an after school activity or are going to your gym class during the day and you leave your backpack, shoes (etc.) in one of the lockers (long or short) and you leave. Whoops, you suddenly remember that you left your lock on the shelf of the locker instead of actually locking it, and yet you have no time to run back or else you get a tardy and will have to run two more laps (at least for my class).

At the end of your activity you come back to find this bright red lock dangling from where your lock was supposed to be on your locker. Now you have to walk all the way down to the dean’s, deal with them just to get a key, and retreat back all because you left your stuff unlocked. Shouldn’t it be my own concern if my stuff ends up getting stolen? I find this red lock thing to just be an additional step that I have to comply with just to get my stuff and get to class.

“A lot of students find that their items end up getting lost or stolen in the boys and girls locker rooms,” says dean Joaquin Stephenson. “It’s an inconvenience, but then they get their stuff back, and it’s all about avoiding theft within the school.”

Sure, I guess it’s supposed to “help” make sure that your personal items don’t get stolen if your locker is unlocked, but I think it just adds more hassle to gym that doesn’t need to be there. For example, I have early bird strength & conditioning and every morning I don’t even have five minutes to spare because I’m in such a rush. So, when I practically sprint my way into the locker room from the parking lot, I want to be able to go straight to my locker and get in and out in the shortest amount of time possible. I have had the occasional “I accidentally left my lock unlocked” moments before, but I don’t think I should be “punished” for those moments. I mean I’m turning 18 in a few months. I think I know what consequences are by now.

Sure, thanks to the school for trying to decrease the theft rate and all, but if your stuff gets stolen, that’s your own fault, not the schools. I think kids should learn for themselves of how to watch their stuff, instead of the school enforcing this concept. The red lock just shows that there’s some sort of chastise system and the school is trying to get involved but it’s just another consequence. I mean the system is almost as annoying as actually getting your stuff stolen because it’s this whole process that you have to deal with.

I think it’s sad that people’s things do get stolen, but it should be their own responsibility of how carefully they watch their stuff. And if they do have their possessions end up getting stolen, then they’ll have a life lesson to not be forgetful and leave their things out. This dog-eat-dog world doesn’t have red lock, so as high school kids who are about to enter the “real world,” we should learn by now that there are REAL consequences to leaving your items unattended. Simple Solution: Just lock your locker.