Kids backpacks are too heavy!

In My Humble Opinion
21

I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t know anyone in my school who carries 30lbs of books in their backpackss. But then again, very few people actually use backpacks between classes. My HS has a Junior High attached to it, and together there are about 2000 students. All my classes are in one half of the school and we have four minute breaks between classes.

Obviously, I don’t need to carry all my books between my classes. However, even when I do need to carry my books for all the subjects (when I go to school and go home, if I have HW in all of the subjects, that is) I can’t imagine a 30lb backpack. I don’t know how big the textbooks you guys are talking about are (are we talking about full-sized dictionaries?), but mine are about 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" and none of them weigh more than 4lbs each. I only have five subjects this year (three this semester and two for the next) and I don’t use my Physics book (which is the heaviest, and thanks to my teacher who prepared all the required notes in one package to put in our binders) and my English books usually consist of just one novel-sized book.

Oh, and my backpack is a medium-sized Janson one, which is ripping at the seams. Hmmm, time to buy a new one, I guess. My backpack never weighs more than 15lbs.

I would think that the problem is not so much in high school, but in junior high. In JH I remember carrying (what seemed to me) a heavy backpack around all day. Solution? I carried the actual texts in my arms.

Regarding having CDs as textbooks, there are several problems:

  1. Textbooks are needed in class. Therefore, laptops would be needed in addition to a computer at home. Unless it’s a private school full of rich kids this would never work.

  2. Even so, what about charging batteries? The infrastructure of the school would need to be completely revamped and the power bills would be through the roof.

  3. Laptops are heavy, and binders would probably still be needed, and therefore it wouldn’t be much lighter. Charging equipment would also be needed. Furthermore, expensive electronics tend to break easily and also tend to get stolen easily.

  4. All the textbooks would need to be repurchased, even if it is in CD form. Schools don’t do this often, and the CDs would likely be just a little cheaper than the textbooks. You aren’t paying for the paper so much as you are for the actual content.

  5. People usually use textbooks to look up facts/data quickly, and having to boot up every time you want to do that would make things more troublesome.

  6. And the typing noise is f’king annoying.

22

IANAP, roomate is.

Being 31, been while since I lugged school books around, so when I went to help get them supplies, was a little startled. Them bags are BIG, and they pack them full. I’m not sure when this got started, I always went to my locker between classes, and carried maybe 2-3 home. Some sorta shift happened, whether it’s now cool to do it this way, or schools are making it rougher on the kids between classes, dunno.

On the CD debate, granted, many homes do not have PC’s, so not sure how good this would work out. E-books may be better, cheaper, and more environmentally sound than books. Still, even though I’m a diehard geek, I love books, love turning pages, the whole tactile thing, so not sure an electronic solution is really best.

23

i guess i’m lucky at my high school; we have ten minute passing periods, splitting up four 95 minute classes a day.
the classes are spread amongst three buildings of three levels each.

we currently have about 1,400 students, with an optimum capacity of about 1,750. there’s a lot of empty space, so if needed they could probably put the enrollment total up to 2,000.

personally, i never use my locker at all. i have a nice back pack with hiking supports, so i could carry 70+ pounds without complaint. currently it only weighs about 30 pounds when fully loaded for an all classes day (8 classes of 45 minutes each, five minute passing periods but four separate lunches to keep things less crowded).

i can understand some people’s areguments, but really it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem ever for me.

24

How big are you saepiroth? It might sound sexist but I’m not losing any sleep over nearly full grown males hauling big bags around. It’s girls and smaller boys that concern me. That kind of weight is not good for them or their bodies.

25

i’m fifteen, about 5’6, and out of shape (i’m a computer geek), though i’m not exactly as wide as i am tall. i may be able to lift more in one go than the average, but i have almost no endurance, which is the important thing when you have to run across two buildings and up three flights of stairs to get to class.

IMHO, i’d say i was under the average. but i could just be too pessimistic and my view might be invalid.
and, i had forgotten about the really little kids. i know a freshman who’s about the same size as my fifth grader brother. carrying the same amount of stuff as i do is hideously unfair for that guy.

26

I just got out of high school this year and I’m now in university, so I’ll give my outlook on things. Just so you know, my high school was smaller than those I’ve read on here, with about 750 students, over two levels of one building. Yeah, the books were heavy, and there were a lot of them.
When I was in grade 11 or 12, my school shifted our schedule around. Instead of three classes in each the morning and afternoon, with five minutes between classes, we then had four classes in the morning, two in the afternoon, with four minutes between each class, except for ten minutes between the second and third, and the usual hour for lunch. We were told to not use our lockers during the four minute breaks, and to do that before classes or during the longer morning break or lunch. It wasn’t a bad system, just tough for the people who were used to the old one to get used to. It wasn’t too bad carrying around books for two different classes at a time, and you had time to switch.
The big problem was bringing things home; sometimes I would have four or five (out of eight) subjects for homework. I either only brought home the important stuff :(, or crammed everything into one backpack. It was tough to get the straps over my arms, never mind walking! I just learned to deal with it that year, and the next two years I did the big stuff during my spare periods. But I pitied the people who don’t have spares yet (only available to grade 12 or 13’s) who had to cart everything around.
My last year of high school I wised up and kept my backpack in my locker. I just carried around the next class, going back to my locker between classes except if my locker was really out of the way, then I carried two subjects around with me. I also did my homework in spares, but younger students don’t have that option.

27

I, too, am a high school student, and I know exactly what you mean. I’m about 115 pounds, tops, and 5’3. I’m a little girl with a big bookbag. Being a junior with several AP classes, the bookload is incredible. Often I don’t have time to even go to my locker in the 6-minute gap between classes because my classes are so far away (I go during homeroom times, etc.) This is because our school is large (2000 students, big campus) and I have conveniently located classrooms. Like Chemistry 3A Upstairs on main floor, and then AP US History next period Third Floor of the Tech Building across campus. -sighs- And lots of stairs. My shoulders hurt pretty bad after I tote my stuffed-full bag from class to class, and I notice at night my posture’s even worse. I carry a purse sometimes to hold my extra books and agenda planner because I don’t have room in my bookbag.

This has been a topic for debate ever since school started. I heard more about it this year than ever before. I don’t think it’s a GIANT deal, but it definitely causes problems.

28

We had a smaller school, about 1,200. I went to my locker about every other break. I WAS late sometimes. Nobody cared. If they did, they could bite me.

29

An aside…does the fact that you’re a “computer geek” explain why you’re out of shape? I know several computer “geeks” who are just as sexy as the next guy. Kindly don’t perpetuate the negative stereotype.

I think astro’s daughter has what we at my HS call the “freshman backpack” syndrome. Each freshman carries all of his books in his backpack. Usually by the time these students have worked their way up to junior year, they have realised that they can get to their lockers between certain classes. Also, many upperclassmen don’t carry backpacks, working their arm muscles instead of damaging their spines. I do find that the students who carry many books are doing it by choice.

JFTR, my school has 2500-3000 students, and it is rapidly growing. Our hallways are packed–one cannot move very quickly at all. However, I can go to my locker in between almost every single class.

One solution: our gym classes get let out a few minutes early so students can beat the rush to lockers and such.

30

Gosh, after reading this thread I suddenly realized… I graduated high school 18 years ago… :eek:

Yes, carrying crap IS a problem for some school children. It will be less of a problem for a 6 foot 190lb high school senior than a 5 foot 100lb senior to carry 30lbs of books. This will also vary with the kid.

I was never very big (5’3") but I used to backpack for amusement in the summer, knew how to pack a bag, and I have always been strong for my size. Even so, there were a couple days when I was truly overloaded and took my two-week pack to school because my back needed the frame support. If the kid is small and MUST carry more than 10% of their body weight then yes, a “magnesium frame” or other serious backpack IS a reasonable solution to the problem. Not the most reasonable - that would be reducing the amount of weight - but probably the second most reasonable. IF properly fitted and worn the frame will help protect and support the young, developing spine.

I am aghast when I see schoolchildren these days staggering (yes - staggering) under their obviously overloaded book bags. I have seen and heard about children with pinched nerves in their arms and shoulders and joint problems from too heavy a load. To be honest – I have experienced these, too, when carrying a backpack but I know to do something at the first sign of trouble so it goes away in a day or two but these kids don’t know enough to realize what the problem is or how to fix it. Nor do their parents, apparently.

The bag-on-wheels concept is great IF you can get the school to go along. Schools often operate on whim rather than reason.

Another problem - and this cropped up even when I was in school - is kids with things like scoliosis, or severe curvature of the spine. They simply should not be carrying ANYTHING on their backs while undergoing treatment This problem usually surfaces during the junior high/high school years.

About time between classes – I’ve known this to happen for real, a situation where a kid just couldn’t get from point A to point B on time. If this is a legimate grievence have the travel time documented (principal, sympathetic teacher, counselor). Find out a reasonable time for transit in real-world (class change, not empty hallway) conditions. Negotiate with either teacher before time crunch or after to leave/arrive a minute or two early/late. In other words, if class breaks are 4 minutes (as they were in my high school) and it physically takes you 6 minutes to make the trip, you can be two minutes “late” to your next class and still be counted as “on time”. I know about a half dozen kids in my high school who went this route. In fact, it became standard that if you had a class in room A and another in room B you’d automatically get the grace period.

I also agree that modern textbooks are frequently too full of froo-froo and gee-whiz. By high school kids should be learning the use and value of stripped-down just-the-facts-ma’am reference books. I am a big fan of fun learning but ya also gotta realize not ALL learning is like that.

31

**

Well I didn’t hear saepiroth mention anything about whether computer geeks were sexy or not. If you can’t complain about what was said correctly then kindly keep the self righteous BS to yourself.

Marc

32

The fact that he is a “computer geek” probably does. While there are plenty of in shape computer geeks there are usually more that are out of shape.

MGibson The correct way to dissagree with someone is in a way that they understand you.

33

well, i’ll just clear up confusion.

Computer Geek:
person who has intimate knowledge of computer hardware/software.

Me:
tubby sack o’ lard that wastes all his spare time on the computer, incedentally also having intamate knowledge of his computer’s harware/software (mostly by long association).

but, still…

[Fat Bastard]
ach! i’m ded sexy!
[/Fat Bastard]
:wink:

34

I’m in high school and I deal with this the best way possible: I don’t bring my books to school. In the first couple of weeks of school, I just threw all the books I needed into the car, drove em home and left em there. The teachers here realize that books are heavy so they cover everything w/ photocopies and writing on the board. We don’t do much book work to begin with, but when we do, it’s rarely ever in class. Usually there’s at least one or two extra books that the teacher just leaves in the classroom if someone needs to see something. I find this to be a great way to keep things light.

About those backpacks with wheels, everyone hates them. They take up a lot of space and kids take forever to go up/down the stairs while taking up all this space.

35

Backpacks are the reason why I switced to a breifcase. If you have dainty little hands, prepare for callouses. Nice painful ones. For at least 2 weeks, then you get used to it. Takes the strain off my back and once you get used to it, you don’t lean to whichever side you carry it :slight_smile:

36

I’ll take my backpack to the library downtown, and I have to walk and wait for the bus. I usually get a LOT of books. Sometimes, I’d get home, and the place on my shoulders were my backpack straps had sat were SWOLLEN and puffy and painful. Ouch.

37

I’m in high school, and it is indeed a problem for me. I am a 5’7" junior, about 130 lbs. Medium-sized. We have four minutes between classes, which is not nearly enough to get to lockers between classes. Hell, our school is big enough that I’m often just plain late walking straight from one class to another.

I cannot leave my books at school, because I need them for homework. I cannot use a wheelie thing, because they trip up people in our crowded hallways and are deeply frowned upon by the administration. I cannot go to my locker during lunch because we are not allowed in that part of school then.

So, my backpack usually weighs about 25 pounds. And this is not by choice. In most of my classes I am required to bring the book to class every day, and must take it home for homework.

My back hurts many days…

But what can I say…I’m not the only one! :slight_smile:

38

I started senior school in 1989. Our school had no lockers. We were promised that the school had decided to order them and they’d be in within the year, despite this no lockers were installed until 1993. The lockers attracted a fee of $40 a year, and my parents figured if I’d coped that long without a locker, I could do without it for the remaining two years I had left of school.

The only difference I can think of between what we carried and what the kids of today carry is computers. Only one of my classmates had a laptop, and “portable” was a relative term back then. The weight of it combined with the weight of the two batteries for it, I couldn’t even lift the bag it was in. He carried that and a full schoolbag, and I can’t imagine the kids of today carrying anything as heavy as that. I’m actually marvelling at how well he did, considering he carried the schoolbag and laptop on his back while he rode his bike to school from the other end of town (at least 15 minutes away by car when there’s no traffic at all).

39

I don’t think making textbooks available on CDs is all that bad of an idea. The school buys one set of textbooks for each class, to be used in class. The school would have to have some extra textbooks on hand to be issued in the usual manner to students who don’t have access to a computer.

It never made any sense to me to bring my textbooks to class when the teachers always had a set of the same books in the classroom. I don’t even care if they put the stupid things on CD, I’m just still mad about having to even bring my textbooks to school.

40

(Guinastasia, you’re right. Some schools don’t allow backpacks- someone could hide a gun in one! They’re dangerous, and I’m surprised any school puts up with them.
I’m just a bit bitter.
Ever since the Heath High School shootings, my school has been paranoid. The system banned backpacks in Middle and High schools, and the elementary students must have see-through backpacks.)

But, it is possible to go to carry all your books without a book bag, I know from experience.
And, yes, it is possible to find time to go to your locker. If your locker is not near any classes, you can have it changed. I learnt this after my mom found out I was carrying all my textbooks to all my classes, plus whatever I was reading at the time. She had my locker changed. (This was in middle school. I’m now a Junior in HS.)