While at Style School on Saturday, this sign, from the American Academy of Physical Therapists, caught my eye:
tips from an orthopedist who shares how to teach your children to safely wear a backpack, from Lands End and Mom Trends’ Style School
For the most part, yeah. Sounds good. A great 7 tips to share with your kids and practice. But numbers 3 and 5 seemed pretty difficult. Look, I want my 9 year old to carry only 10-15% of his body weight, too. But I also want him to bring home the text books he needs to bring home each night for homework. I once had a student who brought home every single text just in case he was absent the next day from school, so he wouldn’t fall behind. He also had an extra notebook, or 4, in his bag as well as a few reading books and games and toys. His bag might have weighed more than his body.
We fixed that with a few phone calls and lessons on organization. I promised him he wouldn’t fall behind if he didn’t have all of his text books. I also met with his parents and the student and, together, we came up with a system where if he was absent, I’d make sure that his homework and classwork was waiting for him in the office for pick up, after school hours. We also created a system at home where every day he dumped his backpack contents into a bin and cleaned out his pack. This eliminated clutter from his pack that had been previously weighed down by old papers and trinkets that he found and felt he had to keep. Finally, we outlawed toys and extra books. There was no need to bring toys and collections to school and he was only to read one book at a time, so he didn’t need back-ups, we had plenty in our classroom library.
Number 5 on this list, however, makes me ponder. We have our children in public school, so we’ve never purchased text books–and texts are expensive! I’ve never asked a teacher for a list of text books before, but I may do it this year. Then I’ll check online to see if the books are available on Kindle or iPad for download so that he won’t have to bring home extra books and we won’t have to clutter the house with extras, either.
© 2012, Julie Meyers Pron. All rights reserved.
Twitter: crazyadventures
says:
I want to send this post over to my kids’ schools. My older kids don’t have lockers (the kids who now change classes), and so they are forced to carry their belongings ALL DAY LONG, to include these massive binders for their classes. It worries me to see them carry so much all the time.
Twitter: juliempron
says:
OMG that’s CRAZY that they have to carry everything. By all means, share the post!
Twitter: mommybknowsbest
says:
I remember going to the doctor’s office when I was only 8 years old, because my shoulder was in so much pain. The doctor said it was from carrying a tote type backpack on one shoulder with too much weight. So, coming from having issues personally I love these tips and that you wrote about this topic!
Twitter: juliempron
says:
isn’t it amazing how many of those commenting remember their heavy backpacks? I’m thinking it may be best to stick with a small backpack and tell the kids not to bring anything that doesn’t fit.
Great tips for a very common problem.
Twitter: bkeepsushonest
says:
I remember when I was in jr high not having time to go to my locker between classes so I had to carry everything, my back hurt all the time. Maybe schools should choose lighter books.
Twitter: juliempron
says:
that would be nice. Or just not requiring the kids to bring their books back and forth. But the heavy books are a real problem.
Twitter: shanamama9197
says:
When I was in high school was when they started doing away with lockers. They only had 100 and you could only get one with a Dr’s note. Even then that was no guarantee there would be an empty one.
I really really hope my kids middle and high schools have lockers because I don’t want them to have to suffer from the back and neck pain I did at that age. And I agree, while the two text book idea sounds nice in theory it may not even be possible. Purchasing a text for school might not even be an option for a lot of people.
Twitter: juliempron
says:
Wow. I had no idea that there were schools without lockers.
I do know that a lot of texts are available for download so that people can have them on their computers, tablets, etc. I’m not sure how it will be to study from a tablet, I suppose “normal” for kids in this generation. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re still very pricey.