The other day I dropped my daughter off to school and was observing how she managed her schoolbag. She’s only little and at age 12 she was battling with it. At the end of the day when I checked how heavy it was, i was a bit alarmed! I asked her, “what have you got inside it?” She said, “just the usual things!”

I then proceeded to dissect her school bag. Pencil case with too many colouring pens, books, and other bit and pieces. The main culprit though, adding to the weight, was the laptop computer that all kids have to carry these days. It’s a difficult problem, because they need the laptop at school and at home. At least these days the schoolbags come in the form of a backpack rather than the old fashioned type one that we had as kids. It’s certainly much better for their backs.

Since there is not too much that can be done about the weight, apart from ensuring there is not much additional junk, it’s important to educate kids about how they move from cars to school or from school to public transport. Our emergency departments receive children who have run for a bus or a tram with a heavy schoolbag and then fallen and broken a bone or even fallen in front of a car. As I’m paranoid about basic safety, it’s something that I always stress to our children. No running with schoolbags on. Walk with awareness and confidence.

If anyone has a better solution, feel free to say!

In Health and Wellness

Ranjit