“Kiddie backpacks” have recently taken the internet by storm. The trend consists of high school students wearing backpacks consisting of childhood shows, movies and characters.
There are a variety of character-themed backpacks available in most apparel stores. From Disney princesses to Spongebob, there is something for all students. Junior Kassandra Baldomar has multiple character-themed backpacks – one carries items for school, and the other carries items for her extracurricular activities.
“The Lightning McQueen backpack is pretty spacious, so I can fit a lot of stuff in there, and it’s easy to carry around,” Baldomar said. “The Ninja Turtles one carries all my books and everything. It’s very sturdy and the front is very hard, so if anything spills on it, I’m not too worried about everything on the inside getting wet.”
Senior Jared Macaraeg does not consider the character-themed backpacks to be a purposeful trend but more of a humor concept. He thinks people are wearing them for enjoyment rather than something serious.
“I feel it’s more of a running joke among students, and people don’t really want to take themselves seriously. They just want to have a laugh,” Macaraeg said. “I definitely think people don’t think too thoroughly about, ‘I want to send a message through my backpack.’”
Students may have different intentions as to why they wear the character-themed backpacks. For Baldomar, wearing her Cars backpack is a remembrance of her favorite movies as a kid.
“I still watch Cars 1, 2, and the rest of them,” Baldomar said. “When I was little, I would wait for Cars to be on TV. I’d wake up early just to watch them, and I still watch them to this day.”
No matter the reason for the character-themed backpacks, SCHS students enjoy the memories they had of their favorite childhood shows and movies. English teacher Theresa Shaw-Iyer believes they are enjoying the last few years of their youth by expressing themselves through backpacks.
“It’s a cute little nostalgia thing, especially for seniors,” Shaw-Iyer said. “This is your last year really being a kid. After this, you’re on your own.”
Similarly, Macaraeg’s backpack of Dragon Ball takes him back to his younger self. He reminisced on the life lessons the show taught him and how he applies them to his personal life.
“It’s (Dragon Ball) representing my childhood because the characters go through a lot of struggles,” Macaraeg said. “The ideas that are pushed through the show get pushed onto me about perseverance and stuff like that.”