Introduction
It is a very pleasant sight to see children proceeding towards schools, in groups or alone. Smaller children with their parents and elder children on their bikes present a busy yet colorful scene outside the school. All of them carry school bags of different types, ranging in sizes from small to big, and some are quite stylish in look. But these are nowadays the biggest enemies of school-going children. I watched carefully, the heaviness of the bag becomes prominent, and the student seems to drag himself somehow carrying the overweighed bag to the classroom. It seems that it is the bag that is carrying the student, rather than the student carrying the bag. These overweighed school bags are today’s concern for both students and parents. Carrying bags heavier than a child’s capacity leads to several serious pains and injuries. Some of these might continue till adulthood. Let us discuss this in a little detail.
Why heavy bags are harmful
Children on a mandatory basis have to carry school bags containing books, notebooks and other things to the school. In fact it is good to carry a little weight while walking or cycling as it gives a sort of strength training to the back muscle of the students and makes them strong. But today students are carrying so heavy bags that it is becoming a curse rather than a boon for the students to carry a backpack on their back. A student should never carry more than 10 percent of his total body weight but the weight of their backpack today is going as high as 30 percent or above of their body weight. As a result a number of abnormalities are taking place.
As a result of carrying a weight beyond their capacity, a student has to lean in front to balance the weight he is carrying on his back. This is a reason for which a child might suffer from fatigue days in and days out. Carrying overweighed school backpacks leads to upper and lower back pain and spinal strain. The child might twist his spine while putting or removing the backpack if not taken caution and get badly hurt. In the long run the extra weight might lead to a hump and make the child a hunchback. This distortion of back structure might continue even in adulthood.
That was the bad effect of carrying a too-heavy bag when carried on both the shoulders. If the student is a fashion-conscious one he might like to carry such a bag on one shoulder only in order to look “cool”. This means the same pressure of the heavy backpack gets concentrated on one shoulder only. That in future might result in rounded shoulder in the student. Serious injuries like slip discs are also not impossible.
How children feel comfortable
Children will feel happiest if they do not at all have to carry a backpack. But as that is not possible because children have to go to school and carry their textbooks there, they can feel comfortable with their backpack when it is light in weight. A child feels lesser strain in the back when his posture is kept as natural as possible that is the natural curve of the spine is maintained and the shoulders are not drooping. That is possible only when the weight of the backpack is maximum of 10 percent of the body weight. The bag should always be appropriate in size of the child, not a bigger one. And it should be made a point that the bag is never carried on one shoulder whatever the weight is, because though fashionable in look, this kind of carrying is sure to damage the shoulder.
Some sort of solution has to be brought out to reduce the weight of school bags and relieve children of clinical problems like backache and other painful conditions. Many potential solutions have come from many directions. Different types of backpacks have been designed to give a little comfort to the little ones. Here are the different kinds of options available to prevent those potential school bag injuries.
Available solutions
The main objective is to help the students to cut the burden of their backpacks. For that two options are open right now.
Locker system: this is the most common practice in the schools which provides the student with lockers to keep the textbooks and other things which they don’t need currently. Students can carry home only the things they need for their homework. But if there is a lot of homework or exams to face then this provision is not going to provide any relief.
Different types of the backpacks are available in the market which aims at reducing the weight-related stress on the back and shoulders of the children.
- Bags with S – curve straps, which try to take the weight off the shoulder due to the unique shape.
- Bags with padded straps, which allow less pressure on the shoulders of the student, making it comfortable for the student to carry the backpack.
- Bags with padded backs, allowing less pressure on the back of the student and supporting the back, absorbing much of the pressure applied by the weighty bag itself.
- Bags with adjustable handles and roller wheels, which allow the student to drag the bag instead of carrying it on the shoulder.
- The bags with waist straps make it possible for the student to rest some of the heavy bag weight on his pelvis and not on his back entirely, and thus pressurizing the back as minimally as possible.
- Bags with many compartments allow the student to organize the things in the bag properly as well as distribute the weight instead of concentrating at one point.
- The best solution available to date is the T backpacks. This type is specially designed to keep a tall posture of the person carrying it. The two straps are supported by a horizontal strap on the chest. This keeps the balance well and the person doesn’t need to lean forward to carry it.
The above solutions try to relieve the children of the pressure their backpacks apply to them. They are designed to make carrying the weight easier for a student, but they also have their own limitation. They can make the student comfortable if the load is within permissible limits of the student’s capacity. But, if the load is too much then somehow or other, the pressure of weighty school bags will definitely cause the damage. The roller bags seem to be a good option, but they can’t be dragged over undulated surfaces or stairs. They have to be lifted in those cases. So, the problem persists.
Probable solutions
Though there are so many potential solutions for the problem of carrying heavy backpacks and getting medical problems like backache and shoulder pains continue to be a cause of concern. Designing new backpacks for providing comfort is obviously necessary, but to solve this problem we need to think from a different angle. We can think of solutions in three different ways; they are: minimizing the time a student carries a backpack and arranging an alternative carrier for them, and lastly, designing a supportive school bag. (McDaniel, 2002)
Minimizing the time a student carries a backpack and arranging an alternative carrier for them – it is a fact that the student can’t go to the school without the school bag. First of all it is necessary to limit the weight of the backpack. Then it is necessary to limit the time the student carries a heavy backpack. That can be achieved by arranging for a school baggage van by each and every school. This is to be a van provided by a school, just like a school bus, where the student could submit his school bag every day and reach the school without any burden. The van will collect all the students’ school bags and drop them at the schools and pick them up again and reach the students’ destinations from where they were submitted. The students can keep in their hands any special study items they need at that moment. The student in this way does not need to compromise on the things he needs to carry to the school but at the same time he will have to carry the bags only from the school gate to the classroom or from the gate of their residence to the inside.
Obstacles that might come: Schools might not agree to arrange for additional carriage system as that requires additional expense and manpower. Students and parents might not readily accept the system as there might be chances of misplacement of school baggage. Though there are a few weak points of this system they can be overcome and especially for the smaller children this can prove a feasible solution.
Reducing the weight drastically with improvised textbooks or team study
Improvised textbooks: this is an option that might reduce the weight of a backpack drastically. In higher classes the weight of the textbooks increases as the chapters increase in number and size. If a textbook of a subject could be created as a package of smaller booklets comprising a single chapter each, the students could easily take to school the relevant booklet currently pursued leaving the rest at home. If a textbook has 20 chapters, the weight of 19 chapters could be left at home.
Obstacles expected
Both schools and parents might not accept this solution readily because splitting textbooks of all subjects into single-subject booklets will increase the cost of publication as well the market price of the books.
Team study: The method of Team study will involve sitting arrangements in the classroom and formation of teams or groups inside the class. The number of group members will be exactly the number of periods each day. Each member of a group will bring anyone’s book on a given day and leave all the other books at home. All the groups will have a single copy of all the textbooks on that given day. All of the students will share their textbooks with the other members of the group. Like this they will be able to follow the study and reduce the backpack weight at the same time. (McDaniel, 2002)
Students like to choose their close friends as their team members. If they are kept in a team comprising of people not so close, they might feel alienated and have difficulty sharing the textbooks. If not cooperated by other students of a different group, the student might suffer from inferiority complex. On the other hand; they might also learn sharing as well as teamwork.
Homework and exams are taken on sheet of paper instead of notebooks or exercise book
If the practice of carrying workbooks or notebooks is demolished, the weight of the backpack might reduce drastically. Teachers should provide sheets of paper for classwork and exams and accept homework in sheets of paper also. Bindings of books and exercise books weigh a lot. So, writing on sheets of paper would be highly beneficial.
Obstacles
There are only two drawbacks of this method. One is the fear of misplacing the answer sheets or getting them damaged, and the other is the probable resistance from teachers who would have an added responsibility on their shoulders. Managing heaps of papers for every class will pose a problem as that will need a lot of storage as well. But if distributed to the students after finishing the chapter who would take them home, the storage can become easier. The cost of papers is also another factor that might lead the school authorities think twice before accepting the method.
Designing a school bag with waist support
Though different types of school backpacks are available in the market, a little different school bag might be of greater help.
The school bag
A school bag that is able to distribute the load in several smaller components could be a way to minimize the pressure on the shoulder and back of the student. The bag has to be made of a fly-weight waterproof material, rectangular-shaped one, which will protrude out a little on both the shoulders in the horizontal direction. It will possess two rows of shallow pockets and each row will have four pockets in number. The pockets will be able to hold only one textbook of any subject and a notebook. The pockets will be placed at a little distance from each other so that the space in between can absorb a little pressure applied by the contents of the pockets. Dividing the books and notebooks into several separate pockets will prevent all the heavyweight from concentrating at one point and pushing the bag downwards. The weight will be distributed in several components which will mostly get absorbed by the space in between and because of the rectangular shape the weight will move towards both the sides rather than pushing the bag downwards.
The straps and the back will be heavily padded with flyweight padding to provide more comfort. There will be two waist straps that will provide support to the bag from below and allow the shoulders to relax. The second waist strap will be optional as it might not be used by the student if the bag is not very heavy.
This bag will surely serve as a school backpack and would be used for that purpose only. It would not serve any other purpose as the pockets would be shallow and would be designed for holding textbooks only. As Hardin states, “The most important aspect of necessity that we must now recognize, is the necessity of abandoning the commons in breeding.” (Hardin 1968)
Obstacles Expected
The biggest obstacle for this bag could be the available solutions in the market right now. Those have been trusted ones for quite some time. Winning the confidence of the users could be a challenge.
Another challenge might be the students themselves. To be a favorite for the students it is necessary to look quite fashionable for any item. So the design of the backpack needs to be very up to date in order to look “cool” or “awesome”. This bag would be for school use only. The structure of the pocket of the bag would not be suitable for multipurpose use. So people who like to buy multifunctional things might have difficulty accepting it.
Whatever the result of the experiments suggested above, someone has to perform this for the sake of the students, the future of this society. We need to be driven “by the desire to creatively bring about new products, new production processes, and new ways to provide material well-being to the members of society” (McDaniel, 2005).
Conclusion
The problem related to heavy backpacks can’t be solved by thinking from any single point of view. It has to be attended from many angles. Designing different backpacks to provide comfort would be helpful, but reducing the weight of the backpack and keeping in mind that it should never exceed 10 percent of body weight is also absolutely vital. Students also need to decide what things are indispensable for the school on a given day and just leave everything else back at home. A collective effort of teachers, students, parents and everybody who thinks about this problem seriously is necessary.
Bibliography
Hardin, G. (1968) ‘Tragedy of the Commons’, Science, vol. 162, no. 3859, pp. 1243-1248.
Mcdaniel, BA. (2005), ‘Contemporary View of Joseph A. Schumpeter’s Theory of the Entrepreneur’, Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 39. Web.
McDaniel, B.A. (2002) ‘Entrepreneurship and Innovation: An Economic Approach’, M. E. Sharpe, New York.