What’s in your Trapper Keeper?

Back-to-school shopping used to be so simple

If I were a 6th grader in 2015 I’d probably be having some kind of personal brand crisis right now.

Back when I was a kid, my mom simply took me to Hartman’s, the low-key variety store on Union Turnpike and I picked out a new pencil case and various other simple things (like book covers, a protractor, a compass, and a marble notebook). Fast forward about 50 years…

I stopped into Staples yesterday to get a new bluetooth headset (a product that didn’t even exist in 1966) and the aisles were filled with kids checking items off their  extensive lists for the 2015/2016 school year.

What one carried and wore to school were always part of one’s hip factor (e.g., the cool kids used rubber book straps rather than book bags). But the stakes are much higher these days. The amount of required “stuff” has increased dramatically. Here’s one media outlet’s must-have list. Locker bling? Really? And now I would have to take this quiz to determine my “back to school style” instead of just buying a new pair of knee socks and Hush Puppies.

Trapper Keeper even has its own website and blog. Marble notebooks used to just come in black. Today I’d have to figure out my “binder style.” Decisions…decisions…

Although back-to-school spending has declined slightly, the average ticket is roughly $600+ and total spending is up 42% over the past ten years alone.  Dorm spending is on the rise too, as college kids turn their closet-size spaces into luxury homes. I suppose this is all good for the economy. But parents and kids must be stressing out a bit more than they did back in the day. And I worry about the impact of all this electronic media on good old fashioned human interaction.

In preparation for the fall, I simply bought that new headset and this funky metallic handbag with a store credit I had at Coach. I came in well under the national average. I hope the kids in my “class” still think I’m cool!

	Great pix of the evolution of school style
	How to make new friends “at school” when you’re an adult
	Down with digital note-taking! Here’s why writing is better!
	I love this blog post. It’s about sending ones kid off to kindergarten.