“This is a cult,” junior Ben Holtzman asserted when asked about his opinion about hacky sack. 

And it’s true: the simple game has become the latest activity to captivate our peers—and honestly, it’s one of the better fads to take over New Trier High School in recent years.

Our peers can be found in hallways, classrooms (including science labs), and even outside on the Trevian Way lawn playing—or “sacking”—with a small, pocket-sized ball (this hacky sack is sometimes called a footbag, but we’ll refrain from using this strange word). With groups sizing from two to more than ten people, the game of kicking the hacky sack between players includes trying to collectively keep the ball off the ground for as long as possible.

Like many of the recent fads, hacky sack gained traction on social media, with the hacky sack hashtag increasing to 330% within the first week of May on U.S. TikTok posts. Although it’s hard to pinpoint a singular post that led to hacky sack’s sudden rise in popularity, it’s no surprise that social media played a significant role in the trend’s recent success: as more people saw and liked posts about about hacky sack, those people began playing the game in school, further spreading the craze.

But hacky sack is far from a new trend. Invented in 1972, hacky sack first gained popularity in the early 1990s, resonating with high school, college, alternative, skateboarder, and soccer crowds especially. 

Now, for better or for worse, it feels nearly impossible to walk to class without coming across at least a couple hacky sack groups in the hallway. In fact, the trend has become so popular that a hacky sack 3-pack could set you back $26.99—if they’re even in stock. 

Compared to other recent trends, like Labubus and Block Blast, the hacky sack fad seems relatively harmless. While most New Trier trends have been heavily consumerism-based or iPhone-addiction-inducing, hacky sack provides a fun outlet for students that actually brings people together.

The very nature of the game is inclusive, as new players are often added to make the game a little more interesting while everyone works as a team to keep the hacky sack off of the floor. The collaborative game also gets teenagers to get up, move around, and get some fresh air instead of just spending time doom-scrolling on their phones—something our parents are probably happy about. Then, as players get more advanced, fun tricks like bouncing the hacky sack off of a forehead or shoulder keeps the game fresh even after a long time, keeping us off technology for an even longer time.

Yet while hacky sack is overall fun, others have only seen annoyances. For instance, while walking to class, hacky sack-obsessed students turn inconsiderate of others’ space and, in turn, show off their severe lack of situational awareness.  This makes walking the short distance to physics class switch from a breezy 30 second stroll to an awkward, “excuse me, coming through” struggle. Hacky sack players take up the entire hallway, making it hard for others to pass through to their next class. 

Now, let’s be clear. While us two have not indulged in the fad, we believe that the hacky sack game by itself is completely fine. In fact, it’s definitely one of the better trends that has swept through New Trier. Yet, that comes with the ultimate plea from us to the hacky sack aficionados: please, for the love of anything, pay attention to your surroundings. Don’t take up a whole hallway during a passing period. Don’t play in a lab classroom. Don’t kick the hacky sack hard enough that it hits someone. 

Just have some situational awareness. Please.