Bulging backpacks weigh students down
By Katherine K., Red Team

As middle school students, we have a lot of things to worry about: homework, friends, sports, grades. One of the problems that is usually in the back of our minds is how much stuff we carry home every day. Backpacks of people our age are usually much heavier than the doctor recommend.

Think about everything you lug around with you to and from school: 2 or more binders, folders, textbooks, SSR books, pencils, pens, your assignment pad, a calculator, tissues, change, possibly gym clothes, and other random items that seem to accumulate in the bottom of everyone's backpack. This all exceeds the weight that backpacks are supposed to be. The worst part is, there's nothing you can do about it.

Backpacks are only supposed to weigh 10%-20% of your body weight. That means that if you weigh 90 pounds, your backpack should be between 9-18 pounds. If your backpack is heavier than that, over time, it may lead to a number of conditions. Carrying a heavy backpack can be a source of ‘chronic, low-level trauma,' and can cause chronic shoulder, neck and back pain. Although so far it has not been proven to cause a serious illness like scoliosis, heavy backpacks can do a lot of damage.

There are other, less technical side effects to having to tote such a heavy bookbag. Knowing that their bag will be too heavy to cope discourages kids from walking to and from school. If the state wants to promote healthier living in young people, why are they giving us so much homework which makes walking to and from school a strenuous and painful task?

For now, we can't change the fact that our backpacks are dangerously heavy. Teachers aren't going to stop assigning homework just because our bags exceed 20% of our body weight. However, it's important for both students and teacher to know what a threat our backpacks are to our health, posture, and well-being.