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LAUSD middle school backpacks are too heavy
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The other day I put the backpack of a seventh grader on my back. It was way too heavy even for an adult. I have lifted the backpacks of sixth graders and they are way too heavy. The backpack of the seventh grader was the heaviest. It weighed more than 16 pounds.
Some of these children walk bent over because of the exorbitant weight. Middle school students can be small. They are still growing and are a long way from full growth.
They should not be forced to carry these heavy books! One parent told me that in 6th grade she bought the set of books for her child to use at home. Her daughter still had to carry the books around in school. Hallway lockers are not in use. Rolling backpacks are not in vogue.
What can be done and who is to blame? The state and the school districts adopt the books. The publishers go out of their way to be nice to officials who have a say in the selection of textbooks. Textbooks are published with heavy covers to protect them and to last longer.
As the curriculum deepens, as we try to compete and to keep up with the rest of the world, as the sole measurement tool is test scores, more and more is put into textbooks. Some of the newer textbooks are really disliked by the instructional personnel.
One solution, in an academically oriented educational program, is for the publishers to print text books in two or three parts. Thus the curriculum for the subject is still complete but in smaller editions. Obviously, the costs of publishing two or three books instead of one is much higher and passed along to the school districts.
Another is the usage of electronic books. The cost here would be prohibitive.
Paperback books would not last long so they are not to be considered.
The best proposal would be the gradual elimination of textbooks with computers and the Internet taking their place. Every household would have to have a computer and Internet access. Households with more than one school age child would have to have multiple computers with Internet access. Over time this could come to fruition, but the computers to be used in school create another question.
Every student in every classroom would have to have a computer to do their class work, to take notes, to do research, and to take tests. With all of the usage from students, the maintenance of these classrooms computers would be an important issue.
Right now, the best solution to saving the student’s backs is to print smaller, lighter books.
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