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Ohhhh! I Have Such a Backache!
By Nicole Garzaniti, Editorial Editor
When
you get home, do you ever have a pounding lower or upper backache and have
no idea why? One reason may be the tremendous strain that is put upon your
body by your backpack every day. |
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Backpacks can range from a light 5-pound weight to, in many cases, a 25-pound load. The average
backpack weighs 10 pounds. As unbelievable as that might seem, it’s true.
| Medical doctors confirm, “When we started counting
symptoms, we found that carrying as little as 6 percent of your body weight—just
eight pounds for a 130-pound woman—can lead to tingling hands, backaches,
bruising, slumping, and arm and shoulder pain.” |
Deborah's backpack weighed in at 21 pounds!
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Here are some tips on the proper way to carry your backpack that will help ease
the burden on your back. Wear the pack on both shoulders, not just
slung over one, loosen the straps so the pack rests at your hips, align
heavy books closer to your back, wear a pack with a waist strap and,
of course, try to eliminate unnecessary weight.
Any number of
books may contribute to the weight of each backpack.From a science, math,
or English book, to an elective handbook, in combination with a folder
and any number of notebooks needed for class. Also, because of the SSR
program, students need to have reading material every day.
“My backpack is so heavy; teachers just don’t understand!” complains Angelica
Casas (02).
Realizing the importance of this matter in the education of students at Chaffey,
most staff members provide class sets and alternative teaching styles in
order to incorporate the important lessons that can be taught without the
use of additional textbooks.
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“We are aware of the situation, the strain it must be, but it doesn’t look
like it will be in the 5-year plan for future Chaffey students to have
lockers,” said Assistant Principal Dennis O’Connell.
Lockers were removed from campus approximately 20 years ago. Some of the many difficulties
that had to be faced when there were lockers on campus were graffiti and
the misuse of lockers, including the storage of illegal items. The lockers
were once located by the bathrooms, in the Math/Science building, South
Hall, and the Home Economics building.
Safety
and privacy issues would also resurface if lockers were again installed.
Inspection of lockers on a daily basis would be necessary to prevent the
use of both weapons and objects that endanger and prohibit learning at
Chaffey. |
Instead of replacing
the lockers at Chaffey, school administrators, with the assistance of department
heads and the library staff, have been very successful in providing each
student with 2 copies of the same textbook—one to leave at home, the other
to use in class, thus avoiding the necessity of carrying books back and
forth from home to school. Ideally then, the only objects necessary to
carry in a backpack should be your CHS planner, a notebook, and writing
implements.
Hey, look
at it this way, how many high school graduates get to show off their diploma
and their hump? |
