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Shouldering a heavy burden
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Heavy school bags carried by kids to class and back is distressing to child, parent and teachers alike. A city school has taken a step to lighten the burden, SUNANDA KHANNA finds out
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WHEN MOLLY Cyril, Principal of a city school, toured the U.S. this summer, her motive was only one: To cram in as many schools in her itinerary as she could. Amongst the many ideas this Principal was looking for, one was how to reduce the weight that students lug to school. Her findings proved that in terms of ideas, there was little that could immediately be shipped out and brought into play. The lockers that all American schools provided for, cost a bomb; moreover with their own combination locks there was no guarantee what the students would stash in there. Who would keep a check? Without the necessary wherewithal, it loomed as a logistics nightmare. For now, solutions would have to be home grown.
On her return, Cyril asked her teachers from standards I to VIII at Choice School to make a few, subtle changes. Hold back the textbooks and note books in school and send them home cyclically as against daily which had been the general practice. Ten minutes before school closed the class teacher would return to keep tabs on what went home and what stayed back. This simple measure would cut the weight by half, if not more. Desks would be provided with cabinet space to keep books and projects.
Manju Joseph, parent of an eight-year-old ,meets the pronouncement with relief. "I am glad the school has taken this step. It is so heartbreaking to see little children waiting at the bus stop with their heavy bags." Last year, when the same school implemented this in a different way, parents protested and it was back to square one. This time, they seem to have succeeded.
Educationists, parents and teachers all over have been making a case against a school bag laden with books, which could lead to long-term spinal damage. The picture shows children from a city school whose bags weigh 7 kg! Frail bodies lugging all that weight. With the growing syllabi in schools it is no wonder that backpacks have grown in size. Not only have textbooks become heavier the number of notebooks per subject has increased. Manufacturers of school bags take care to provide compartments for different objects. The bag contains text books, notebooks, elaborate lunch packs, fancy snack boxes and water bottles, diaries, an impressive array of geometry boxes carrying mathematical instruments, besides a couple of library books thrown in. Children are sometimes afraid of being caught without the right book and hence pack in all that they possess. Enough to build up a load, which is more than the 10 per cent of body weight that most doctors suggest. Of late, the exercise charts in Dr Poulose Chacko's clinic are coming in good use. A city based orthopaedic surgeon, he says the age group in his OPD has steadily reduced and that it is "very common" for him to be seeing patients who are in their teens. They come with aching backs; straightaway the bone doctor prescribes an x-ray of the spine, which is followed up with a series of sensitive exercises for the back. In some cases the problem is acute and the child has to undergo a CT scan. "It's a problem of this generation. The heavy school bags put too much pressure on growing bones. Moreover the muscles of the shoulders are kept tense for a considerable period of time." Long hours spent sitting at the computer table, in front of the TV screen and a fast food based diet are other factors that can be held responsible for a visit to the orthopaedic department.
It was something of a rarity to have children complaining of backache, recalls Dr Chandy of Lakeshore hospital. "If ever they came, we were advised to do a diligent examination because it could only mean an organic cause, such as infections or tumours. Now, their problems are largely mechanical caused due to varying lifestyles." Education boards do not impose any weight limit on the school bag, but says Shamim Mohammad, principal of the primary section, Choice School, "it does periodically ask us to make the entire school-going experience `more child friendly'". Leelama Thomas, Principal of Campion School, maintains that the NCERT textbooks are not heavy and since their purpose is only to whet the appetite of the student, most of the work is done in the school library using reference books. Over the years many suggestions have been floated; lockers be provided where students can store their belongings, instead of lugging them to and fro; having two sets of books, one each for school and home or even dividing the textbooks into two terms, thus reducing the weight to be borne by students. As we wait for some recommendations to take root it would be good to sit up and take notice. Get children to walk straight and make sure they don't carry unnecessary accessories to school. The long walk to the bus stop can be made easier if the bag is carried on both shoulders, the way it is meant to be.
A bagful of woes
DR CHANDY of Lakeshore hospital says that the concern of aching backs should not be exaggerated, but rues the fact that "schools don't harp on the importance of correct posture. Children are not reminded often enough to sit up straight." Part of the damage is done by the way children carry their load. With their bags tossed on one shoulder they dash down the hall from one classroom to the other. Bags are slung on one side causing stress on the muscles of the opposite shoulder due to lop-sided distribution of weight and "the child develops a compensatory curvature at the lumbar region", says Dr Mani, an orthopaedic. It is not long before this develops into full-fledged adolescent backache. Bad posture becomes both the cause and effect. Adds Dr Chacko, the adolescent spine reaches maturity between the ages of 18 and 20. Before that it is distressed by growing pains, which get aggravated by carrying irregular loads.
S.K
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