Shock report on threat of heavy schoolbags
By Tom KellyA TOP level report circulated to all primary and secondary schools in Mayo indicates that carrying heavy schoolbags represents a health hazard to pupils whose spines are susceptible to injury during formative years. The shock study, based on medical research, recommended that schoolgoing children should not carry more than 10 per cent of their own body weight. An instruction has been issued by the Department of Education to bring the facts to the attention of all teachers, pupils and parents. The blueprint, compiled by a working group appointed by the department, said it was students in the junior cycle who carried schoolboys which were heaviest in proportion to their body weight. The report outlined that the maximum load which does not produce adverse effects 'has not yet been identified.' "It is not possible, therefore, to prescribe safe limits for load carrying by children. There appears to be a consensus that 10% of body weight is reasonable for children to carry. That would mean a weight limit of 3.7kgs for 12-year-old students and a limit of 5.5kgs (females) and 6.2kgs (males) for 17-years-old students. "This recommendation should be treated cautiously, given the dearth of research in this area. Factors such as local conditions, distance and time should also be considered in the context of load carrying by children" The report said that positive action had to be taken by schools in an effort to alleviate the problem of heavy schoolbags. At primary level, this would involve pupils leaving their books in school overnight and homework assignments being carefully monitored with the weight of schoolbags as a consideration. Action that should be taken at secondary level included the provision of lockers, the arrangement of timetables into double class periods, active liaison with parents and the co-ordination of homework by subject teachers. "Solutions to the problem are multi-faceted and should be implemented in a cohesive manner. Many of the solutions belong at local school level." The report also outlined that the integration of information and communication technologies into education may have a significant impact on the problem of heavy schoolbags in the medium to long term. "However, in the interim, it is necessary that potential strategies be investigated in order to alleviate the problem to whatever degree is possible." The report concluded that scope existed for a major initiative in reducing the size and weight of textbooks and that such an initiative was particularly important at second level.
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