By FULLER ROYAL
Staff Writer

The details aren’t worked out and no regulations are in place, but a possible ban on book bags at Whiteville High School has raised concerns with students and parents alike.

In the wake of last month’s post-football game murder at Lake Waccamaw and the rumored possible retaliation at WHS that following Monday — 70 percent of the students stayed home — Whiteville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Randall Shaver outlined what he plans to do to make the school safer.

Included in that list was the possible banning of book bags.

Last week, it was announced to students that the ban might begin Nov. 1 for WHS as well as Central Middle and Edgewood Elementary schools.

Whiteville Primary School would not be affected.

Other than the announcement, details were sketchy. No one was sure if mesh or clear book bags could be substituted or if the ban would extend to all types of bags, including pocketbooks or purses.

Critics of the ban say that it’s overkill and ask how students will be able to haul 20 or more pounds of books to and from school and from class to class.

Since the murder and retaliation rumor, WHS students have been going through metal detection devices each morning before their first class.

The process is time consuming – nearly 800 students have to be “scanned” and almost as many book bags, pocketbooks, gym bags and band instrument cases have to be visually or physically searched.

WHS Principal John Westberg said the process has gotten faster but still takes a large amount of time in the mornings.

Westberg had no specifics to offer on what the final plan would be. Shaver said that the system had yet to determine what exactly would be banned.

Each school’s school improvement team is working out the details.

Shaver said that his experience with other systems had shown him that an outright ban on book bags was the best way to go. There has been no final decision.

Book bags
first appear

Book bags grew in popularity at WHS in the early 1980s and have been a staple of high schools here and across the country for more than 20 years.

Students worry how they will keep track of books, notebooks, supplies and personal items.

Local chiropractors have for years warned of the physical detriment of carrying backpacks.

An observer would have to search quite a bit to find a book bag that is properly balanced on a student’s back.

Each teacher has his or her own set of requirements for class materials. Some require two, three or four-inch three-ring binders. By mid-semester, these binders are full of notes and projects and it shows as book bags become fuller and fuller.
Freshman Elizabeth Williams, 14, said she is loaded down with books already and thinks the book bag ban is a bad idea.

She said that students who care about grades might become lazy and not carry everything they need for their classes.

Junior Silas Acostas, 16, said he doesn’t think the ban would make any sense. He said the ban doesn’t consider what students have to haul each day.

Lockers
not popular

Not all students at WHS have taken advantage of the available lockers. WHS students gave up on lockers decades ago.

Most prefer to keep their books with them all day. With only four minutes allowed to change classes, there isn’t enough time for most students to visit a locker.

Shaver wants to change that. He said that one or two minutes would be added to the time allotted for class changes.

There are three class changes each day and students now have four minutes to make it to their next class. Classes are scattered across the campus’ 13 buildings and students trying to make it to the auditorium, gym, art or Allied Health classes have the longest hauls.

A place for
personal items

Parents of girls are concerned that their daughters will not have any place to carry feminine hygiene products if pocketbooks are banned. Others want to know what athletes, physical education students and band members are supposed do with their extra gear and uniforms.

“I don’t really like the idea,” said 16-year-old junior Jonathan Council. He said it would be difficult to keep track of all his books.

Gage Hammond, 16 and a junior, said he doesn’t want to have to pay the $5 lock rental fee.

All lockers, used or empty, must be locked and a student is required to rent a lock for an annual fee of $5.

Freshman Emily Lennon said she doesn’t know how all of the students will carry their books or be able to have enough time to exchange books in their lockers.

It is not known what percentage of schools in the state have banned book bags. A search on the Internet of state high schools’ handbooks doesn’t reveal too many that have such a rule in place.

Nationally, there are news stories about school boards banning book bags, mostly after students were caught with weapons on campus or making bomb threats.

Several high schools allow mesh or clear book bags to be used to bring books to school and to carry them home. However, during the day, book bags have to be stored in lockers.

Other ideas under consideration to secure the high school include mandatory photo identification cards for staff and students and a flexible uniform guide for clothing.

Additional metal detectors have been ordered and some additional fencing may be erected on the south end of the WHS campus.