SCR 86 - Heavy School Backpacks

• Acknowledges that overloaded school backpacks cause back pain and spinal strain in elementary and secondary school children, with over 7,000 emergency room visits and 28,000 doctor visits annually for backpack-related injuries.

• Recommends schools educate administrators, teachers, parents, and students about health impacts of heavy backpacks and work with parent-teacher organizations to assess and reduce backpack weight through innovative homework strategies.

• Urges schools to discourage backpacks exceeding 10 percent of a pupil's body weight and promote ergonomic backpacks with padded adjustable straps worn on both shoulders.

• Recommends schools encourage students to leave heavy textbooks at school, provide electronic versions of textbooks when available, and integrate education about backpack weight using classroom scales and tracking graphs.