Most students at Berkeley High have a dirty secret they carry around with them: the inside of their school bags. A backpack's interior can be utterly vile and go completely unnoticed, but after complaints of strong aromas produced by several tote bags, Blazer staff took it upon themselves to do an inspection.
One confiscated black JanSport looked unassuming, but inside we found a colony of ants, a certified vintage mandarin peel (circa August 2022), and the backpack itself emitted an odor so strong masks were required for its inspection. A classic Trader Joe's bag was another offender; its contents included traces of raw egg from Rally Day, clots of spearmint gum that had escaped their wrappers, a wet and sticky copy of The Great Gatsby, and a broken fountain pen staining everything black. In one fake Michael Kors bag we found a singular highly noxious gym shoe, loose strawberries, $200 in Chinese Yuan, and a live hamster.
"We need to raise awareness to just how unsanitary our school bags are," said a student interviewed at rush hour in the G1 girls' bathroom. To illustrate her point, she gestured to the bathroom stalls, each with a backpack on the floor inside due to the lack of hooks. This, of course, was the same floor that was flooded from a malfunctioning toilet just hours before. The bags were evidently "all contaminated by this," the student pointed out. She expressed disgust at how students would likely later lay their heads on the same bags while tired during lessons. In terms of advice, the student added, "I personally leave my school bag outside when I come home and spray myself down with Lysol... I just have to think of Berkeley High like a biohazard."
The filthiness of school bags may seem irrelevant, however it is more influential than one may think. I'm sure you've heard a friend say or wondered to yourself "why is everyone getting sick." If you are looking for an answer, just unzip your backpack and take a look.