Every year students personalize and decorate their lockers for many different reasons, and they will usually do in the first few weeks of school. They personalize them with things like shelves and whiteboards. Throughout the year, students will then decorate each other’s lockers for events like “changing seasons, birthdays, games, plays, musicals, competitions etc,” said Mrs. Rembetsy, a teacher at New Providence High School. 

A personalized locker can “make it feel ‘more me’ and more at home,” said Julia Baroody, a student at NPHS. She thinks that students like to decorate their lockers to showcase their style. 

Saule Mikaliunaite says she has decorated her friends’ lockers because it was their birthday, and a “decorated locker rises the mood, gives happiness and gives a student in school a more familiar atmosphere.” 

But are there rules or restrictions against students decorating lockers?

“Students [should be able to personalize] the inside of their lockers as long as it’s done in a way that is easily cleaned up afterwards,” said Mrs. Hatfield, an English teacher. “[I don’t] see any problem with students decorating their lockers, within reason,” she continued.  “However, I think they need to be decorated in such a way that adds to the overall attractiveness of the halls and in a way that won’t result in the decorations falling off and making a mess in the halls.” 

On the other hand, there are other teachers that believe students shouldn’t decorate their lockers. “[I don’t] think it would be appropriate for students to decorate the outside of their lockers as it would potentially cause issues for students passing in the hallways and it could easily be vandalized since it is not secure,” said Mrs. Rembetsy, “That being said, I do believe small temporary decorations for the plays, games, etc. are great and to my knowledge, there is nothing prohibiting this type of decoration.” The inside is a different story:  “[The] only restrictions should be that they could not permanently alter the locker, they can not impede other students in the hallway, and they can not negatively impact other students.”