posted
My brother pointed something out to me when he was in college. He told me how he noticed that in college, students carried their backpacks on both shoulders, which was much different from the way that high school students carried theirs only on one shoulder.
I have noticed this to be true in my own experience as well. I have postulated that the reason is because high school students think carrying the bag on two shoulders looks dorky, and college students are old enough to not care, and to realize it's not that dorky after all--and these darn books are heavy!
So, I'm interested in what you see on your own campuses and high schools. High school students, take a look around as you walk through the halls. Are the majority wearing their backpacks on one shoulder or two? College students, same question... Is the theory correct?
As I was walking across the university campus this morning, I saw 1 person definitely carrying his bag on one shoulder. I might have seen another one, but he was too far away to really tell. Everybody else had theirs on two. (Including me)
Yeah, I know it's a silly question...but I'm curious!
posted
At my college, practically everyone I see that has their backpack on two shoulders. If they aren't doing that it is because they have one of those side shoulder bags anyways.
Posts: 306 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
For maybe freshman or soph year I used one shoulder. From then on it was two....ditto for the most of my school
Posts: 193 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
In high school I also did the one-shoulder thing - it was cool
In college, right now, I usually carry my backpack on both shoulders. Sometimes, without thinking, I'll just use one shoulder, but after about 30 seconds the shoulder I'm using will start to get sore.
Posts: 367 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Although I'm no longer in high school or college, I can tell you why I followed that pattern. I always start out carrying a bachpack on one shoulder, because that is easiest. But if the backpack is particularly heavy or I have to walk a considerable distance it gets shifted to both shoulders. Both of those conditions are much more likely to occur in college than high school. Why bother to put it on both shoulders if I was only going to take it off again in a few minutes?
In my case, it had nothing to do with coolness, because all the really cool kids (in their minds at least) didn't carry backpacks at all. They seemed to take pride in being unprepared for class and sauntered along with nothing on their backs.
posted
I've always worn my backpack on two shoulders, but then [deadpan] I went to a Norwegian high school that concentrates completely on learning, and where anyone who focused too much on how he looked would be considered an utter idiot. [/deadpan]
As for college, I haven't actually seen many people wearing backpacks in mine. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention.
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posted
I've seen the trend myself, but I've always carried my backpack on both shoulders. I don't have an impressive excuse like KoM...I was just a dork.
Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I can honestly say I've never followed any pattern like that. In high school, I always wore my backpack on two shoulders, mainly because I had a number of books/notes/etc. in them. In college, I got a backpack that doesn't have two straps, but rather one strap that goes diagonal across your chest. It works fine since I think I carry less books in it than I did in high school (since I can go back home between classes and change out books easier than I could ever go to my locker between classes).
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Followed the same pattern. One strap in high school, two in college and grad school, unless I had a one-strap bag.
What's interesting is now I don't even consciously make a choice about one strap or two. It's always two. The only time it was one strap was for the thirty seconds or so that I'd be running out the door due to lateness. Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I noticed the trend when I was going to college. I started as a freshman carrying my bookbag on one sholder, because that was the way everyone did it in highschool. I quickly switched to the more practical way once I had to walk a mile across campus with 20lbs of books. Function over style and all that. The next backpack I bought had a clasp between the two straps in the front to more evenly distribute the weight, and boy does it help!
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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quote:Originally posted by theCrowsWife: I always start out carrying a bachpack on one shoulder, because that is easiest. But if the backpack is particularly heavy or I have to walk a considerable distance it gets shifted to both shoulders. Both of those conditions are much more likely to occur in college than high school. Why bother to put it on both shoulders if I was only going to take it off again in a few minutes?
In my case, it had nothing to do with coolness, because all the really cool kids (in their minds at least) didn't carry backpacks at all. They seemed to take pride in being unprepared for class and sauntered along with nothing on their backs.
That's pretty much how it went in my high school. Now, in university, no one seems to care, and anyway my backpack is a lot heavier and I walk longer and my back is in worse shape to begin with.
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I carry a messenger bag, and did through most of high school. When I did have a regular Jansport-style booksack, I didn't have a particular way of wearing it - sometimes one shoulder, sometimes both.
My roomie wears his booksack on two shoulders, as do most of the kids I see around campus.
Posts: 1225 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Heck, I'm 31 and if I use a backpack (for non-hiking purposes), I still use the single shoulder method. Two shoulders is just plain uncomfortable with non-hiking equipment.
Posts: 349 | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Zamphyr: Heck, I'm 31 and if I use a backpack (for non-hiking purposes), I still use the single shoulder method. Two shoulders is just plain uncomfortable with non-hiking equipment.
See, I'd say the opposite - excluding the hiking equipment part.
Posts: 367 | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote:Originally posted by MyrddinFyre: The one-shoulder was cool in MIDDLE SCHOOL. Y'all are behind the times
No, you're just young.
I'm like most people here: one strap in high school, usually two in college unless it was more convenient to do one.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Originally posted by MyrddinFyre: The one-shoulder was cool in MIDDLE SCHOOL. Y'all are behind the times
In HS most people had both shoulders, or messenger bags. Same in college.
Exactly! Except for the messenger bag part (they weren't popular 10 years ago) this is absolutely my experience. I rarely if ever saw anyone carrying their backpack on one shoulder in high school.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I think once you hit college, the convenience thing becomes the most important. I've noticed more and more people pulling their books in a small suitcase with wheels. I'd rate that as a -5 on the cool scale, but hey, it works.
Posts: 1256 | Registered: May 2005
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A few years ago, when my sister was still in junior high, she wanted one of those roll-around backpacks because they were so cool at the time. I didn't get it. All I know is that they bug me; I have a rather long stride, so if I'm walking behind someone with one, I often end up kicking it by accident.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
I used the one-shoulder throughout junior high, high school, and college. Putting my backpack on both shoulders always gave me a backache.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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I used two shoulders in middle school, but when I went over to the high school after school to help my mom in her classroom (at that point it meant surf the internet), I'd get made fun of, so as a freshman I switched to the cool one strap variety, then pretty much gave up carrying a backpack unless I had to take home lots of books (would leave it in my locker) and now in college since i live at home, i rarely take it, just throw my stuff in the car, then walk in with it when I need it.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
I guess this proves how old I am, but when I was in high school no one used backpacks. We had...gasp...lockers.
When I was attending community college, it seems like there was no predominant way of carrying a backpack. I saw a lot of people carrying on one shoulder, and a lot of them carrying on two. I usually carried on two, but that's because I worked on campus and carried all my books in to where I worked and just took what I needed to each class, leaving the rest of the backpack at work. Then I got a rolling backpack, which as far as I'm concerned are one of the best inventions ever.
Then, when I transferred to a 4-year school, almost everyone who carried a backpack, carried it on two shoulders.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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We had lockers, too. They still have lockers. I suppose you don't need bookbags if you leave all of your books in there all the time. Bookbags are for Transport--not Storage. And sometimes you have to carry more books home than is practical to carry.
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
In high school, we weren't allowed to carry backpacks around school. We had so many bomb threats, that it would take forever for the police or whoever to search through the rooms when backpacks were there. You could use them before and after school, but that was it. So a lot of people didn't use them at all and I never really noticed a specific trend. In college, I use two straps- much easier.
Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
I did the one shoulder routine in High school and gnenerally 2 shoulder it now. I usually didn't bring one to class, just a clipboard and a pencil case. I still go one shoulder every now and again, but only in the summer. It's part of a futile effort to keep the bag off my back and prevent sweat from pooling.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
Honestly, the reason students are more likely to use both shoulders in college is because we have no lockers and probably have to carry more books. For instance, right now I have chemistry and then precalculus back to back. That's two gigantic textbooks, plus maybe other textbooks I may be carrying with me if I want to study something else in the library after the classes. It would be considerably unhealthy to use only one shoulder, IMO. It's more a practical change than a stylistic one. =D
Posts: 722 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
I'm in high school right now. I generally go with the two shoulder method, just because it doesn't hurt my shoulders as much when I have a heavy load in my backpack. I've never been terribly into being "cool" in the eyes of most other people, though. I do see a fair number of people using the one shoulder method, IIRC.
Posts: 1466 | Registered: Jan 2003
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quote: Originally posted by theCrowsWife: I always start out carrying a bachpack on one shoulder, because that is easiest. But if the backpack is particularly heavy or I have to walk a considerable distance it gets shifted to both shoulders. Both of those conditions are much more likely to occur in college than high school. Why bother to put it on both shoulders if I was only going to take it off again in a few minutes?
This is the crux of the argument, I think. In high school you typically travel within one or two buildings that are very near each other. In college, you're travelling from one building to another building a good distance away. One strap wouldn't count for much in high school, but the distance and time issues would start necessitating two straps in college.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
In high school I pretty much always carried my bag on one shoulder because it was easier to get into it that way, instead of always having to unshoulder it before opening it. Now, in university, I just carry a shoulder bag so I only can wear it on one shoulder and it's easy to get into.
"Cool" has had nothing to do with it. Just practicality, for myself, as I'm always going into my bag for one thing or another.
Posts: 1158 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Going to highschool in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, everyone had hiking backpacks and it was the style to wear on both shoulders, as if hiking. But I know we were unique and this is not typically the case.
Posts: 161 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Most of the people at my college do the two shoulder thing. In high school I used to see a lot of people doing one shoulder. At some point in middle school and high school I switched from one shoulder to the other shoulder to two shoulders, but I forget when.
Posts: 2867 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
In middle school. I used a backpack and wore it on both shoulders. In high school freshman year, I used backpack, one shoulder. And now this year, my sophomore year, I have a messenger bag, so obviously only one shoulder.
Posts: 206 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I carried it over one shoulder through high school AND college, simply because that was the easiest and quickest way of doing it. Who has time to actually put on both straps? In college I was lucky just to have it over one shoulder, and not just grabbing it, still half open, under one arm as I ran out the door. Posts: 8120 | Registered: Jul 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Raia: I'm in college, and I wear mine on both shoulders. But I did that in high school too.
Ditto. And as for the people declaring the miracle of rolly backpacks, those may work well in college where there is generally room to move, but in a high school with halls that are overcrowded to begin with, a rolly backpack will only earn you the hatred and abuse of other students. I remember one kid my sophomore year had a rolly backpack. (He was probably the only one who actually tried to roll his bookbag between classes.) It took up way more room that necessary and caused a lot of people to trip. Finally people actually took sand paper and flattened the wheels so that they wouldn't roll and he would have to use the straps. He just continued dragging it.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
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I put it over one shoulder usually for ease of picking it up/putting it down. Normally I go to my locker between classes so there's no problem with weight.
If for some reason I have packed everything in there, then it gets the double shoulder (or else my right shoulder beats me up and steals my lunch-money the next day).
Posts: 254 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Katarain: We had lockers, too. They still have lockers. I suppose you don't need bookbags if you leave all of your books in there all the time. Bookbags are for Transport--not Storage. And sometimes you have to carry more books home than is practical to carry.
Well, when I was in high school, backpacks hadn't become popular as a school supply yet. Then again, I graduated in 1974, so I'm old.
As far as lockers go, some of the schools around here still have lockers, but students are not allowed to use them. The district is too afraid that someone might hide some contraband in one.
Then again, some of the schools don't have enough books to go around. At the middle school where my best friend teaches, there is a classroom set for each classroom and that's all. Students never get to take books home to study. Not that this means no homework. A lot of teachers, including my friend, have their students do "interactive notebooks", which are spiral notebooks in which they must paste handouts, do activities, and make notes during class when they can use the textbooks. These notebooks are graded on a regular basis and are a good resource for the students to study from for quizzes and exams. I've helped my friend grade notebooks from time to time, and I'm convinced that they are a great learning tool.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I know the middle school I went to now prohibits the use of backpacks during the day, you can only carry them when going into and out of school. I don't think my high school is doing that, but I haven't been there in four years.
Posts: 2867 | Registered: May 2005
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I didn't use a backpack in High school. I mean, isn't that what the boys were for?
In college, I actually saw a guy (a 4.0) take his roommate (not great grades) aside and force him to wear it on one shoulder because he 'looked like a dork' with it on both. But that was the olden days.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote: In college, you're travelling from one building to another building a good distance away. One strap wouldn't count for much in high school, but the distance and time issues would start necessitating two straps in college.
Oh, haha. Maybe this is why my high school was a two-strapped place. I forgot the part where it was a campus too... there was a lot of walking between classes, as well as many large books (on an average day my backpack weighed thirty pounds).
Posts: 3636 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Back in HS, I walked or biked to school, so I was in the habit of using both straps. I almost never carried my bag around school, though.
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Most of the kids in my high school did the one shoulder thing. I don't know about doing it to be cool, I just did it because it was easier and I rarely had to walk that far to get from class to class.
In college I don't usually use a backpack, just carry my books from my locker (The trunk of my car) to class and back.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I know this is totally off the experiment subject but I thought some might find it interesting...
My cousin just started Middle School and the school district in Volusia County, Fl has banned the use of Back packs in all of the schools in the county. For safety reasons as well as future back problems. They are only allowed to have a traper keeper (is that what they are called?) for all their work. I think it is absurd, but what can you do?
Posts: 218 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
We're not allowed to carry our backpacks at school. We carry them in (on two shoulders, because if we did one, the strap would snap) we put them in our lockers, and forget about them until the final bell rings...
Posts: 1094 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I don't think it's absurd to not allow middle school students to carry around a ton of books.
When I was student teaching, I saw a middle school boy carrying around a HUGE backpack. It was jammed full and HEAVY. That he had to carry so many books home was SO wrong.
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
I carried around a heavy backpack with heavy books in it in Jr High and High school. But that was, for the most part, my choice. I had a locker and could have used it more - but I found the heavy backpack more convenient than switching books often.
At any rate, I don't think carrying around a heavy backpack is a big deal.
Posts: 367 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
At the AiCA-SD, people just carry their mesenger bags with either the school's logo or TROGDOR THE BURNINATORPosts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Lol Aod. I'm in High School, and most people carry them around with 2. Unless they have the messenger bags, or use their lockers, which would make their backpacks mostly empty. Everyone has a locker here, but most people only use them at the begining and end of the day. The halls are too crowded to go inbetween every class. Unless your locker is nicely out of the way of the intersection/500 hallway, and you have classes by your locker.
Posts: 879 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
In my high school, most people except the really cool people, who always had to have everything with them just in case something Really Important happened, just left their backpacks in their lockers and carried only their books to class. Backpacks were only for toing and froing between home and school.
I do think, though, that there was a one-shoulder leaning, although the amount of books I had to cart back and forth was so extreme that I definately had no option but two shoulders. In university, except for really short distances, I still use two.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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