Goodbye, Labubu keychains, pragmatic hand sanitizer and emotional support water bottle. Hello, new arm muscles?

Often perceived as emotional and adversarial, teenagers are greeting new rules limiting backpack use in select Howard County middle schools with confusion and disdain.

“I personally don’t like it,” said Saanvi Singhal, an eighth grader at Dunloggin Middle School in Ellicott City who stores her school-issued laptop, notebooks, pens and pencils in her backpack alongside her water bottle, hand sanitizer and other things to get through the day.

Fellow Dunloggin eighth grader Phoebe Baum feels the same.

“Without my backpack, I think it would feel like I was constantly dropping things and as if I was always running out of time,” Phoebe said. “I find having my backpack with me is a self-soother because of the weight and the storage it gives me.”

For Phoebe, her backpack carries more than just her school supplies. She painted her backpack and festooned it with pins showcasing her music and pop culture interests. It also holds her sketchbook.

But, to some middle school administrators and teachers, knapsacks can create hazards in hallways and classrooms, clogging traffic flow and cluttering classroom aisles, according to notes sent home to parents.

And what backpacks hold can be a distraction in the classroom.

This isn’t just a Howard County thing. Backpack debates occur all over the country, with some school systems mandating clear or mesh backpacks so students can’t conceal weapons or drugs.

The Anne Arundel and Baltimore County public school systems do not have districtwide backpack policies and instead allow schools to make their own rules. Baltimore City Public Schools used to require all students to carry clear backpacks, but that is no longer a districtwide rule. It is up to schools to make their own choices.

In Howard County, which also is leaving it up to individual schools, students have to leave their backpacks in their lockers in at least six of the system’s 20 middle schools: Bonnie Branch, Dunloggin, Mayfield Woods, Harper’s Choice, Glenwood and Folly Quarter.

The rollout was not districtwide, yet the change comes roughly six months after the school system implemented its policy of not allowing students to access their cellphones during the learning day.

The cellphone ban in Howard and other districts came amid a groundswell of research showing the devices’ harm to kids. A Pew Research survey found 72% of teachers said students being distracted by their phones was a major problem in the classroom.

Dunloggin Middle’s moratorium doesn’t start until October, but Saanvi knows “it’s going to be a hassle” for her and her peers, who will be juggling class notebooks, folders, laptops and chargers.

Some teenagers and parents, however, weren’t fazed by the change.

“My sixth grader today is doing fine,” said Lizz Hammon, president of the Harper’s Choice Middle PTA. “It hasn’t been an issue. People aren’t upset about it at Harper’s.”

Laptop bags, small purses and fanny packs are allowed, Hammon said. Also, students with individualized education programs or 504 plans (for students with disabilities) that specify they need access to a backpack are allowed to have one.

“It’s really a matter of the school is small, the hallways are narrow and the classrooms are really small,” Hammon said. “In classrooms, teachers were tripping over kids’ backpacks.”

While Harper’s Choice Middle School implemented the change for the current school year, Glenwood Middle School stopped allowing backpacks last year.

Glenwood Middle PTSA President Cathy Datz said it took students and parents time to get used to the change, but she hasn’t heard any complaints.

The no-backpack schools give students time to access their lockers, including before homeroom, before and after lunch, and at dismissal.

Despite a significant number of locker stops, having only three minutes to switch out books and make it to class is challenging, said Saanvi, the Dunloggin eighth grader.

Ahead of the change, Phoebe emailed Principal Antoinette Roberson and asked if students would be able to carry a tote bag or purse for items such as glasses, feminine hygiene products and retainer cases. The answer was yes.

Even in schools where students can have their backpacks all day, there are limitations. For example, Burleigh Manor and Wilde Lake middle schoolers must store their backpacks in their lockers during lunch.

As Dunloggin’s student council president, Saanvi plans to bring up the backpack issue with the school administration and see how students feel about the change.

“In a way, yes, it is sometimes an extension of myself,” Saanvi said of her backpack.