The Berkshires' Classic Hits Station

It's a hard truth, Berkshire County. Apparently, you can no longer go back-to-school shopping for your kids and purchase all the things you "think" they will need when they head back to the Halls of Academia.

The daily news provider South West News Service recently reported a survey of 1,000 parents asking them to name the top "must-have" supplies for the upcoming school year. Some of the results were pretty surprising.

The survey was conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Office Depot and from the responses of the 1,000 parents surveyed, these are the results they came up with what students really want for school.

The number one response from parents was your basic supplies like notebooks, pens, pencils, highlighter markers, etc. at 41%. Close behind at #2 at 38%(I actually thought this response would have been #1) was laptops or tablets.

The third most common response(32%) was backpacks and lunchboxes. Where things get a little interesting is with the fourth most common response. 31% of parents said "retro supplies." Items like 90s gel pens, scented markers, or Trapper Keepers.

WOW! Remember Trapper Keepers?? Those were the coolest! They didn't seem to last too long though. Maybe because I constantly beat the hell out of mine. "Retro supplies", huh? You know what they say, everything old becomes new again.

And finally, the fifth most common response from parents on top "must-have" items for their kids was...headphones(27%). I'm so glad that we weren't allowed to wear headphones when I was in school. I probably wouldn't have learned a thing.

The survey also revealed some other interesting statistics including the top concerns of both parents and teachers going into the 2022-2023 school year. Visit SWSN's website and check it out for yourself here.