Over a period of time we have seen school bags of children getting heavier and heavier and this is not only leading to children hunching their backs but also in lower back pain issues at such a young age. The government of India has also taken note of it and introduced a few ideas to help reduce the burden of kids.
But, one school principal has taken keen interest into the matter and practically implemented the solution in his own school after he saw the struggle of his own daughter. This principal instructed the teachers to split the syllabus of the whole year on a per monthly basis. Further he instructed to combine that syllabus into one single book in order to reduce the burden to less than half.
A study has revealed that on an average the school goer has to bear the load of 8 kgs every day based on the class he or she is studying in. Additionally the kids also have to carry their lunch boxes and water bottle. Comparatively, the children in the west have locker facility in school so they can choose the books they want to carry home. That does reduce a lot of burden from the kids and thus is much lower than schoolers of India.
Solutions
The government of India has taken preventive measures by passing a bill wherein kids upto the age of 8 are not to be given any homework from school so that they don’t have to carry any extra books.
The government has also devised a few guidelines around the weight of school bags permissible. For students of class I and II, the weight need not exceed 1.5 kg, for kids of class III to V, the limit is 2 to 3 kgs, for kids from standards VII and IX 4.5 kg and for kids of X it should not exceed 5 kg the order from the government also includes the addition of a locker facility for every student as well as informing them about the books that they need to bring one day in advance.
Parents Checklist
It’s also parent’s responsibility to keep an eye on their children. To check of any signs of hunchback, lower back pain, red shoulder, numbness after carrying his bag for the while to name a few.
