Carrying a school load

carrying backpacks that are more than a third of their weight, it is no surprise that many students complain of back pain.

“I weighed my backpack and it was 45 pounds,” said sophomore Zeni Saife-Selassie. “One [student] almost got into a fight with me because I accidentally hit him in his chest with my huge backpack.”

Many students walk around with oversized backpacks, their backs hunched over, and their bodies straining to balance a huge quantity of the weight they carry. It is common for students to bend forward when carrying a heavy backpack in order to keep from falling backwards.

Even with lockers, some students are forced to bring all of their school materials with them to every class.
“My locker on white days isn’t next to any of my classes, so I have to carry all my stuff. I carry at least four binders, one or two large textbooks, and a couple of notebooks,” said senior Whitney Davis.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that students should never carry a backpack that is more than 10 to 15 percent of their weight and to tighten the straps of the backpack so that the bag is two inches above the waist because the bag should be close to the body in order to lessen back pain. Backpacks that are too full can cause bad posture, back pain, and red marks on the shoulders.  “I had back problems and had to go and visit my doctor. I have a hunchback,” said Saife-Selassie. Almost 7,000 students were injured in 2006 because of oversized backpacks, and 30 to 50 percent of students are victims of pain as a result backpack use.

Carrying a backpack over one shoulder is an improper use of a backpack, which is supposed to be carried over two shoulders.

“I carry my backpack on one shoulder and it’s very painful sometimes ,because I carry well over 10 pounds and I’m pretty small. [But] I feel like it’s better than carrying my bag with two straps because it feels like it’s too much pressure on my back,” said sophomore Kidist Ketema.

Only carrying the bag over one shoulder can cause postural misalignments, osteoarthritis, and vertebral subluxation, which leads to neck pain, back pain, and headaches.

Back problems have been observed to affect such a vast majority of students that the California State Assembly passed legislation mandating schools to introduce ways to significantly limiting the weight of students’ backpacks.
Students feel like their teachers ask them to bring too many things to their classes like textbooks and binders that cause their bags to become too heavy and large for them to carry.

“They should have extra textbooks in all the classes,” said sophomore Salma Kerfal, “so we don’t have to carry them.”

However, students often carry unnecessary items in their backpacks that do not relate to any of the classes they are taking, which causes them to be overly stuffed.

“I can’t spell that well so I carry around a mini dictionary and I also carry five reading books,” said Saife-Selassie.
 Because of the health risks of carrying heavy backpacks some students have found other alternatives.

“I used to have a backpack and put everything in my bag because I didn’t want to hold it in my hand,” said senior Jeni So, “[but] that ended up hurting my back. Now I just carry a tote bag and hold the big textbooks in my hand and put all of my smaller stuff in my bag.”

Though carrying textbooks can lessen some pain, back pain can be long lasting, and much of the pain experienced by adults is attributed to the habit of carrying heavy bags in their youth.