Crawford 1

Kylie Crawford

Suzanne Ponder

English AP Comp

December 6, 2015

One Backpack, One Problem

INTRODUCTION

During a student’s education, parents have to pay for all of the supplies and books as well as a

new backpack. Why must parents constantly pay for a new backpack? Students are forced to

carry too much inside these much needed school bags causing the bag to rip and the child to have

health issues later on. Even worse, not all of the students can use a locker therefore the students

are forced to carry every book the school issues.

Many students come home and complain about having back pains and parents always

ask, “why don’t you use your locker?” or “Do you really need all this stuff?” Most students have

to carry around an entire locker full of supplies just to make it through school. For the health

concerns of its students, New Albany High School should eliminate the need for heavy

backpacks because these backpacks are causing health issues.

ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT EFFORTS

Currently at New Albany’s campus, there are about eleven thousands kids. Many of these

students. must carry every school supply they have just to make sure they are getting to class on

time.On the other hand, students have also found it best if they can share a locker with a friend

so it can be easier to move around the school without heavy backpacks. Teachers at New Albany

will try to encourage finding smaller items to carry, such as folders, while others try to keep a
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classroom set of books so students will not have to carry the book around. Many people visiting

New Albany can just look at each student and think “They look like turtles; they’re walking

forward, the posture changed.” (CNN) Many visitors at NAHS notice how bulky these

backpacks truly are and can see that for a student to walk comfortably is to almost be doubled

over with gravity weighing in on an already heavy backpack. In order to help students, New

Albany should try to find new ways to lighten these loads so a better posture can be helped with

in a student, such as the system has with testing out new iPads.

THE BENEFITS OF CHANGE

Benefits for Students

Making backpacks lighter will help a student from worrying about the chances of getting

scoliosis or a sprained back.Now without a student having to worry about these problems,

students can be comfortable when studying for tests and worry more about actually learning the

materials because sitting down in a chair for a while will not hurt the student any longer.

Students can also have more hours of sleep because now a good night’s rest can come without all

the tossing and turning. Dr. Joshua Meier states, “In general, it’s probably mostly a

nuisance.”(Courier Journal) For students it can be with having to carry all those books five days

a week and walking up and down three flights of stairs because there is so much weight there.

New Albany’s very own school nurse, Nurse Fitzgerald, has made the comment, “Only about 15

pounds should be on a teenager’s back because 20 percent of their body weight seems like a lot.”

(Fitzgerald) Which 20 percent could be with all the forces of gravity setting in on the child as

well as climbing so many stairs in one day.

Benefits for Parents

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Lighter backpacks will lead to a decline in back issues which ultimately leads to less doctor bills

and more money for the family.Many parents will take students to doctor appointments, or even

the ER if it is serious, every two to three weeks because of the complaints about lower back

pains or the student having muscle spasms (focus chiropractic). Parents will be able to easily

watch for signs and prevent any further damage to their child. But how can this be helped? “Josh

Bixler, a physical therapist at the Old Brownsboro Crossing location of KORT,Kentucky

Orthopedic Rehab Team, suggests the kids’ backpacks be no more than 10 percent of their body

weight.” (courier journal) Parents can begin to weigh the child’s backpack and check to make

sure it stays within that range.

Benefits for Teachers

Teachers would not have to worry about overloading students too much. If a student has a lighter

backpack, it can be easier for them to focus in the class instead shifting due to the pains.

Teachers can have the benefit of a more active class. For a teacher, a more active class can lead

to more lessons being taught and focused on. Dr Lee claims that, “Most of the time, if the

backpack is way too heavy , you will see kids either leaning way forward or way backward.”

(WTNH) This can cause a disruption in classes for a teacher. Eliminating this issue will let

teachers have less worry about overloading students constantly.

COUNTERARGUMENTS

Not too many would disagree, but those who do would state that it is better for the students

physical health. A student can gain more muscle mass by carrying these backpacks up and down

stairs while rushing to class. While this could possibly be true, is that really worth giving a child

health issues over? “We see kids complaining of back problems, we are seeing more Scoliosis in
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the teen years,” claims Dr. Granville Simmons, pediatrician.(WALB) Scoliosis is raising highly

within students all because kids can gain more muscle mass.

RECOMMENDATIONS

NAHS should assign lockers annually for students so it can be much more easy and quick for

students to find the locker and get to class. For example: Back in middle school, this was done

for students and made it easier to make it to each class as well as carry only what was needed for

homework. If new lockers can not help the situation, teachers should look into only using a

folder for classes or allowing students to place items inside of the class (Fitzgerald). Folders are

almost weightless compared to the huge textbooks almost always have to carry. In order to

promote the use of a lighter backpack, school systems should celebrate National Backpack

Awareness day on September 16 with backpack weigh ins and activities. (AOTA) Celebrating is

an easy way to get students involved, helped, and encouraged to have less weight on themselves.

As well as celebrating a lighter backpacks, faculty members can “encourage the use of a locker”

according to the school’s very own nurse (Fitzgerald).

CONCLUSION

School administrators should look for new and improved ideas to help students create lighter

backpacks. Lighter backpacks will help with a student’s posture and learning abilities, because

now a student can focus better and not have to worry about headaches, as well as the student

shifting around constantly causing distractions because there is so much pain in the lower or

upper back regions. In order to help the situation at hand, parents should encourage a student by

finding small events they can do to check that backpacks are under the 10 percent that is
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necessary. New Albany High School should search for new ideas to reduce the need for heavy

backpacks because of the increase in back issues in teenagers.

Works Cited

AOTA. "How Heavy Is Your Child's Backpack?" Aota. Org. AOTA, 8 Sept. 2015. Web. 17

Nov. 2015.

Carter, Darla. "Is Your Child's Heavy Backpack Causing Pain?" Courier Journal, 25 Sept. 2015.

Web. 17 Nov. 2015.

Fitzgerald. "Heavy Backpacks at New Albany High School." Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2015.

Gumbrecht, Jamie. "Inside Students' Heavy Backpacks. Why It's Too Much and How to Help."

CNN.com. CNN, 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.

"Is Your Child's Backpack Too Heavy?" ​Focuschiropractic.net​. 2015. Web.

Springer, Stephanie. "Study: Heavy Backpacks Related to Spine Problems." WALB, 8 Aug.

2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.

WTNH. "Heavy Backpacks Lead to Back Problems." WTNH, 30 July 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.