FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Frank Belluscio (fbelluscio@njsba.org)
Mike Yaple (myaple@njsba.org)
(609) 278-5202
Back to School 2002—
TAKING ON THE WEIGHTY ISSUE OF BACKPACKS
TRENTON, August 1, 2002—When you hear today’s schoolchildren complain about homework being a pain, they may not be exaggerating. Their aching backs and necks might be caused by the heavy loads in their backpacks, according to doctors.
The issue first gained attention three years ago with an American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons report. The Academy found that more than half of the physicians it surveyed reported seeing students whose back and shoulder pain came from carrying backpacks that were too heavy. The AAOS recommended that students carry loads no greater than 15% of their body weight. Also that year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that more than 3,400 pupils between ages 5 and 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to backpacks or book bags.
“There’s a growing recognition that weighty textbooks and over-stuffed backpacks may lead to real health problems for growing bodies,” said Edwina M. Lee, executive director of the New Jersey School Boards Association.
School districts have responded to the concern by calling on teachers to coordinate the homework given to children, establishing longer breaks between class periods to allow students to go to their lockers to retrieve books, and even by purchasing two sets of books—one for students to keep at home and one for the classroom.
In some communities, school officials have conducted meetings with students and parents to address the issue. Rather than having children take an entire book home, teachers sometimes provide copies of the material needed for the night’s assignment. In addition, an increasing number of school districts offer textbooks on computer disc or ensure that the books are available at local libraries.
The issue continues to generate research. The Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, is nearing the end of a two-year study of the effect of heavy backpacks on more than 1,000 teenagers in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Researchers are reviewing numerous factors such as how children walk, how they carry backpacks, the distance they walk—and even the effect of obesity, which is often the culprit in the lower back pain that many children experience, according to duPont doctors.
“NJSBA will be very interested in the results of the duPont study,” said Lee. “Some local school boards are calling on textbook publishers to produce lighter-weight books, and there is proposed legislation to set state standards for maximum textbook weight. The study may have an impact on state policy.”
Assemblyman Peter J. Barnes Jr. of Middlesex County is sponsoring a bill that would require the New Jersey State Board of Education to adopt maximum weight standards for textbooks used by children in primary and secondary schools. The legislation, A-2440, is currently in the Assembly Education Committee. California lawmakers are also addressing the issue. A proposal, now in the California state Senate, would require school boards to distribute surveys to find creative, cost-effective measures to reduce the weight of student backpacks.
Meanwhile, NJSBA’s Edwina Lee stressed the role of parents in helping students to avoid injury due to overweight backpacks.
“Parents should consider what their children are carrying to school and back home,” she said. “They may find that, in addition to books needed for homework, the backpacks might contain personal items, electronic gadgets and non-school items that only add weight.”
Parents and students may also find helpful the following tips on safer use of backpacks, provided by the duPont Hospital for Children: