What’s in kids’ backpacks this fall? All the old-school stuff, plus a ton of new stuff

In the late summer of 1975 “Mandy” by Barry Manilow was top of the pops and kids were shopping for “far out” back-to-school items such as flared jeans and platform shoes.

Jansport’s now classic backpacks were starting to pop up on more students’ backs. But, having a brand-spanking new branded backpack stuffed with stuff was not the norm in the ‘70s.

“There were very few requirements, I’d have a little pencil box, a few textbooks, binders,” recalled Alyson Schafer, a Toronto-based parenting expert, in a phone interview with Yahoo Canada. “I’d carry my lunch in an old recycled bread bag. It would usually all get squished.”

The times have clearly changed.

Today, not only do kids usually have a branded backpack half their size, there is so much stuff in backpacks some kids have resorted to rolling them around on wheels.

Less than a century ago kids simply tucked their books under their arms or slung a few over their shoulder dangling by a leather strap. This summer, many Canadian teachers have already handed out long lists of what supplies kids should be bringing in their backpacks for the new school year, said Schafer.

One of the newest Jansport models (Staples)

All the old stuff, plus all the new stuff

Canadian kids today are still likely to have to haul all the same items kids used to haul to school, such as: Hilroy Canada Exercise Books, paper duotangs in primary colours, No. 2 HB pencils and Pink Pearl erasers.

“The paper part of it hasn’t change a whole lot,” said Tony Cronin, on the phone from the London Drugs store in the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta.

But, just as parents are now carrying around a wallet with money and bank cards plus a smartphone, students are now hauling around all the old- and new-school stuff.

The tech part of school has changed a lot over the past decade or so. For the upcoming school year parents are buying items, such as Apple iPad and Microsoft Surface tablets for high-schoolers, said Cronin. Even grade-school kids are lugging around technology, often just a basic smartphone so parents can keep in touch, he said.

The bell tolls for throw-away lunch items

Long gone are the basic recycled bread bags Schafer used to pull out when the bell rung for lunch.

“A big difference is lunch,” said Elena Delli Pizzi, category manager at Staples Canada, in a phone interview.

Courtesy Staples

Many schools now demand that kids get sent to school with a completely litterless lunch. Parents are buying reusable containers for food and drink. Gone are the days of kids sipping juice through a plastic straw in a cardboard box. These days, kids use products like Juice in the Box. The reusable BPA- and phalate-free plastic juice boxes come in bright pink or blue. And sandwiches can no longer be sent to many schools wrapped in plastic cling-wrap. Instead, sandwiches are now brought to school in boxes like a Boomerang Brights Sandwich Box. The boxes come in pink, green and purple and are free of BPA, phthalate, lead and PVC.

Backpacks

Backpacks haven’t changed much in the last decade or so, other than the addition of a few new pockets for things like tablets. While seeing kids carrying around a large backpack with a prominent logo is now a common sight, it wasn’t always that way.

“[It] was not a fashion accessory, there was no statement about it,” recalled Schafer of the ‘70s school bag options.

Courtesy Herschel

In 2015, Generation Zers are likely to be carrying around a $60 backpack from a trendy brand like Vancouver’s Herschel Supply Co. And Jansport backpacks, which many a Millennial and Gen Xer slung over their shoulders, remain popular today, said Delli Pizzi.

Certain things change, while many things stay the same. When kids go off for the first day of school, instead of Barry Mailow’s “Mandy” it’ll more likely be Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” playing in the car as the kids roll their eyes when their parents try to hug them goodbye. In 2015, as in 1975, kids are all too eager to run away from their parents and towards their school friends – the main difference being they may run a little slower now since they have a giant backpack filled with stuff strapped to their backs.