Many people have to deal with back problems later in life. Back pains can be contributed to many things including bad posture and medical issues like scoliosis. However, studies have shown that a lot of these cases can be linked back to the weight people have had to carry around in their bags to school.
     The children of this generation are expected to go above and beyond in learning, and this seems to include the amount of books and other things they have to carry around all day for their classes. This is especially true for the IB and AP students of Temple High School. These student’s tend to carry twice as much as the people in the regular classes, and the load only increases through the years.
   “I carry six folders, two spirals, one composition notebook, an agenda, a calculator, and pens and pencils…I actually didn’t expect to have a big backpack senior year. I thought it was going to be pretty light.” Rosie Carvojal, senior, said.
     The average backpack kids carry to school weighs 30% of the student’s own body weight. Studies say that a backpack weighing 12 pounds lifted 10 times per day for a 180-day school year equals 21,600 pounds. This means that the average student has been lifting and carrying 11 tons total in one school year. With kids carrying this much weight around accidents can happen and the weight can cause severe damage to the back. The backpacks can cause a person to lean forward which increases the risk of them falling over. It also can mess with the natural curves in the lower and middle back which can cause muscle strain as well as irritation to the spine, joints, and the rib cage. 
     “In the past 5 years I have seen about a dozen cases. All have conditions either directly or indirectly related to heavy backpacks. It is resulting in weight bearing conditions like back spasms, pain, and abnormal curvatures.” Skip Isdale, chiropractor, said.

     Many students have lockers issued to them, but most do not use them due to the lack of time given during passing periods. After awhile the students get used to the weight and do not realize how much damage the backpack is causing, especially if they are carrying it on one shoulder.  Kids who are in sports and other extracurricular activities also tend to carry what is needed for those activities adding onto the weight they are already forced to carry. Specialists recommend trying to only pack what the students will need for that day and that switching over to a laptop with the books downloaded onto the computer might help decrease the problem.
     “It wouldn’t be so much of a problem if more than six minutes could be allotted to passing periods and people could actually go to their lockers and put stuff up.” Jason Tse, senior, said.