By Jen Kahkonen

Poland Regional High School

Why do students at Poland Regional High School carry their backpacks around with them all day? Why don’t students use their lockers?

First a little bit about my own backpack carrying habits. I carry my backpack all day because I can’t fit it in my locker and because there’s no time between my classes. The only bad part about it is after all day my back will hurt from my bag being too heavy from all the heavy stuff in it. Here are the things in my backpack right now: 3 binders, 3 notebooks, Big Red gum, an agenda book, a novel called Where The Heart Is for humanities, a Lenoxx Sound CD player, pens and pencils, and a math book and that’s about it. So how much does this weigh? 13 pounds!

Alex Richardson is 14 years old and in the 9th grade. He said he carries his bag with him because there’s no time between classes for him to go to his locker. Richardson said that all he has in his backpack is six binders and a lot of homework. He claims that his bag is not too heavy for his back.

I spoke to Liz Hubbard, a 14-year-old 9th grader. She carries her bag all day and all she has in it includes: 4 binders, pens and pencils, markers, Winterfresh gum, some papers from classes that she doesn’t put in her binders, an agenda book, and that’s about it. She says that it is pretty heavy but that there’s not enough time between classes to go to her locker.

Carrie Greenleaf is a 15-year-old 9th grader. In her backpack she has 7 binders, some notebooks, Adidas perfume, lunch money, make-up, pens and pencils, and that’s about all. Greenleaf estimates that her bag weights on average 13 pounds. For a young girl, Greenleaf has had some pretty serious back problems. She has even gone to a chiropractor and a doctor to have them look at her back. The chiropractor even said to Greenleaf that carrying such a heavy bag is not helping the problem.

So how much do these backpacks weigh? And how much should a kid carry on their back? Are students at PRHS carrying an unhealthy amount of weight on their back and shoulders? I asked Hubbard, Greenleaf, and Richardson to weigh their packs on the accurate scale in the nurse’s office. Here are the results. Liz Hubbard’s pack: 18 pounds. Carrie Greenleaf’s pack: 13 pounds. Phew!

So according to the experts, which of these students is carrying too much? All of them? I did some on-line research about this issue of kids and the weight of their backpacks. According to a 2001 newspaper article out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina “more than 3300 children ages 5-14 were treated in emergency rooms for backpack-related injuries in 1998” (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission). The article goes on to say that students should only be carrying 10 to 20% of their body weigh. The online article out of South Carolina also quoted a chiropractor as saying, “it seems more and more {students} are carrying them and more and more are carrying them the wrong way.”

Students say that the cool thing to do is carry their backpack on one shoulder, not on both shoulders. It might be cool but it’s not the healthiest way to carry your backpack. The best way to carry your bag is on both shoulders so you won’t hurt your back. If your backpack is too heavy for you then carrying it evenly on both shoulders divides the weight. Students also wear their backpacks way too low, which can also cause pain. Packs are supposed to be carried on your back, not down by your butt.

The reason why most students don’t use their lockers is because there’s not enough time between classes. Five minutes is not enough time to go down stairs, get through every one, get the stuff from your locker, then go wherever you need to go – upstairs or downstairs. It’s hard because the school is so big and that’s why I just carry my backpack around with me. Greenleaf, Hubbard and Richardson said so too.