Back-breaking burden on school children

Miyapur: The NCERT guidelines state that the school bag should not weigh more than 10 percent of the student’s body weight. However, schools seldom follow the norms as there is no system in place to take stringent action on the defaulting schools. Due to which the heavy school bags have become a burden on children, who are not in a position to complain about it in a society with ‘education is everything’ mentality.

“We are used to carrying heavy bags every day, even though we are experiencing neck and back pain. It is also affecting our body posture as we can’t walk straight with such a heavy weight. My bag weighs about 9kgs and I should carry all the books to and from the school every day for study in the school and to do homework,” said Likhitha, a Class 9 student.

“We are becoming helpless in this situation. We know that they shouldn’t carry such heavy bags but they will need all the books in the school. The management should make arrangements for lockers in the schools. Children should be set free from the burden of heavy bags otherwise they will be facing lot of health problems in future. Along with the bag they carry their tiffin box and water bottle which is mandatory. My child is studying in seventh class and weighs 40 kgs and he carries a bag weighing about 8 kg everyday,” said Soumya Sri.

“We arrange water in the school but still children come to school with a water bottle which is unnecessary. Parents should stop sending water bottles and should trust us. We are considering about the importance of lockers in the school and will try to implement it soon,” said principal of a private school. Doctors say that heavy bags can cause medical problems for children ranging from lower back pain to headaches and ligament tears. Carrying a heavy bag on the spine with bad posture may result in lower back pain.

-N Kavya Reddy