'Full circle': Why some high school seniors are going back to school with kindergarten backpacks

High school seniors across the country are donning a new type of item for their first day of school: a backpack typically used by young children.

As seniors are starting their last year of high school, an emerging trend has them purchasing the backpacks as a way to reminisce on their childhood.

The backpack designs range from cartoon shows to beloved movie and video game characters and everything in between. In one TikTok by user @tamialanaee, students are wearing backpacks with Disney, Nickelodeon, DC, and Marvel characters on them.

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One TikToker, @blessupinspiration, made a video asking if other students across the U.S. are also partaking in the trend, as his daughter was for her senior year.

"From what she’s telling me, they all get this little kid backpack for their senior year to take them back to kindergarten [and] first grade,” @blessupinspiration says in the TikTok. “The kind of backpack they would wear back then to graduate high school in, man. It’s like full circle.”

Over 17,000 people have commented on the video, confirming that students from multiple states are also hopping on the trend, including in Arizona, California, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and more.

Some schools are even encouraging seniors to wear the backpacks as a way to embrace their inner child, like Cigarroa High School in Laredo, Texas.

This isn't the first year that seniors have showed up to school with the backpacks. The trend has also occurred in previous school years, including in 2021 and 2022.

If you're a senior searching for a backpack to wear on your first day of school, stores such as Target, Walmart and Kohl's could have options. Target is where TikToker @nicolette.tan found her backpack, choosing a Spider-Man themed one.

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Kate Perez covers trends and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach her via email at [email protected] or on X at @katecperez_