Parents advised to check their kids’ backpacks

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Friday, Aug. 22, 2003 | 11:15 a.m.

MountainView Hospital offers tips on how children should use backpacks

Weight

Never put more than 10 percent to 15 percent of the child's weight in a backpack. Adjust the bulk of the weight to ride between the shoulder blades, not the lower back. Place heaviest items close to the back, loading lighter items toward the outside of the bag.

Use straps

Backpacks should have wide, soft shoulder straps. Narrow straps can cut off blood supply. Use waist straps when provided. Don't sling backpack over one shoulder. Use both straps.

When it comes to buying her new backpack, Jamie Schoebel, a soon-to-be sixth grader, knows what's important.

"I want pads on the straps so it doesn't hurt my back," said Jamie, 11, who was stocking up on supplies Tuesday at a Henderson Wal-Mart. "And I like purple."

With more than 267,000 students headed to the classroom Monday, everyone from physical therapists to principals are reminding parents to make sure their children don't turn into pack mules with the start of the new school year.

A backpack that's too heavy can result in severe back, neck and shoulder pain, and may even lead to serious injuries, said Steve Gottfredson, director of the rehabilitation services at MountainView Hospital in Las Vegas.

"When kids are still growing, you don't want them lugging around excessive loads, especially on their backs and shoulders," said Gottfredson, a physical therapist. "If they're carrying more than 10 percent to 15 percent of their body weight, that's too heavy."

In the wake of numerous studies showing a rise in children seeking treatment for backpack-related injuries, school districts across the country have been cracking down. California last year passed legislation requiring its state Board of Education to adopt backpack weight standards for elementary through high school students by 2004.

While Nevada hasn't reached that point yet, Clark County educators say they are taking note of the studies and making changes at individual campuses.

Garrett Middle School banned backpacks outright last November, citing complaints from teachers of students digging through jam-packed sacks and parents reporting children with back pain.

At the new Canarelli Middle School, students will be given textbook copies to take -- and leave -- at home, said campus office manager Lisa Collins. A second set of books will remain in the classrooms for student use, eliminating the need to ferry the items back and forth.

Canarelli students will also be required to leave their backpacks in their lockers during the school day, Collins said.

During the last legislative session lawmakers approved an increase of $50 per student in funding for textbooks. Each school will be allowed to decide how to spend those dollars, and purchasing duplicate copies to stay in the classrooms is "definitely an option," said Walt Rulffes, deputy superintendent of operations for the district.

Kate Preis, a dean at Grant Sawyer Middle School, said making use of lockers and easing dependence on backpacks was part of the parent-student orientation held last spring for incoming sixth graders.

"Students have four minutes' passing time between classes, so they can go to their lockers and get what they need instead of carrying around a lot of weight," Preis said. "It teaches them the importance of organization and preparation."

While there are enough lockers to go around at most of the district's middle schools, that's not the case at many high schools, students and parents say.

"You have to sign up for a locker, and you don't always get one," said Cassie Schneider, who will be a senior at Green Valley High School. "You can go (to the lockers) during lunch, but that's the only time. It's easier to have a backpack."

At Basic High School students double up and share lockers, said Barbara Williford, whose twin daughters will be seniors this fall.

"You see the kids all the time outside the schools, all hunched up, trying to carry all their stuff," Williford said. "Some of those books are four inches thick."

Another challenge: convincing students to forgo the latest styles and fads for what's sensible.

"There's no way," Schneider said. "I'll get a backpack that's comfortable and has lots of room. That's as far as I'll go."