Andy Kimball
Opinion Columnist
With all of the extracurricular activities and classes, students can sometimes feel like they have a lot to carry around.
However, thinking and actually having a physical load to carry are two different things.
Webster students have to carry textbooks, notebooks and other materials that can add up to over 15 percent of their body weight, according to a story in the Huffington Post.
Lockers are a good solution to this problem, but some students have to go from one side of the building to the other for classes and simply don’t have the time to go to their lockers to exchange materials.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, at least 14,000 children are treated for backpack-related injuries every year.
Backpack-related injuries also send an estimated 5,000 children a year to emergency rooms.
Athletic Trainer and Health Teacher Sean Wright said heavy backpacks are a issue for students today and that symptoms can be caused are lower back pain and trigger points or sore back muscles.
This is a problem that can be easily solved, however, because some classrooms have a class set of textbooks, but not all.
Other possible solutions are to have digital textbooks or to add two or three extra minutes to passing periods to give students more time to go to their locker to drop off books.
Wright thinks that textbook material should be digital, “All students should have I pads.” Wright also talked about the possibility or roller backpacks to reduce back stress but said, “They (the school) probably won’t get those (roller backpacks) for students.”
Digital textbooks could be put online and be accessible to students on their phones and computers at home. There are already digital textbooks in place for the geometry textbooks, but a password needs to be provided to access it.
Also, Hixson students each receive Chromebook laptops to bring home and bring to school each day. Students could receive laptops and receive material digitally instead of textbook form. This will reduce costs for new textbooks and help reduce the load that students have to carry around daily.
