Video from Rigby student goes viral after district bans backpacks
By Andrea Olson
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RIGBY, Idaho (eastidahonews.com) — A video one high school student posted on TikTok has gone viral after she filmed students finding creative ways to carry their textbooks without backpacks.
“I saw someone walk past my car holding a box and I could just tell that this day was going to be so funny,” Rigby High School junior Savannah Bagley told EastIdahoNews.com. “The kids at my school are so creative. I was just cracking up all day. I saw a kid carrying a chair upside down holding his books today.”
Bagley posted two different videos on TikTok showing kids bringing their school supplies in shopping carts, wagons and baby strollers.
Backpacks were banned at secondary schools in Rigby last week after a gun was found in the backpack of a 13-year-old Rigby Middle School student. No shots were fired, the girl was taken into custody and nobody was injured.
The incident came four months after two students and a custodian was shot at the same school. Nobody was killed and the shooter, a sixth-grade girl, was taken into custody.
“It definitely is super scary. In the moment, it’s super scary,” Bagley says. “I just think it’s not something we need to constantly dwell on. I think the video that I made has nothing to do with being for or against banning backpacks or anything. It’s just to show how creative the people at my school are. It has nothing to do with politics.”
Bagley says not having a backpack at school has been inconvenient but acknowledges the district administration is trying to do its best.
Jefferson School District 251 Superintendent Chad Martin tells EastIdahoNews.com that he is aware of Bagley’s viral video.
“I think that all kids need to be able to deal with things and I think they are dealing with it,” Martin says. “We hope (the backpack ban) is a temporary thing until we get a more permanent fix. If this can be a positive thing that they enjoy for a little bit, that’s wonderful.”
Martin asks students to avoid bringing large items that could clog up hallways or classrooms but “for the most part, laundry baskets … we don’t have a problem with that. I saw one kid pulling a sled down the sidewalk.”
Martin explains administrators are working to come up with solutions and he wants the community to be involved.
“We have created a new position – a student safety coordinator – and they’ll really be helping us to get social and emotional help curriculum into our middle schools,” Martin says. “We’ve created a 30 minute period each week that will specifically focus on really just helping kids making connections with adults and other kids.”
Bagley posted her first video five days ago and it has been viewed nearly 600,000 times and national news organizations have contacted her about the unique content.
“At the beginning, I probably had 100 followers on TikTok,” Bagley says, with her follower number hovering around 3,000 as of Wednesday evening. “I did not expect for this to go viral.”
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