HI HR158

Urges school administrators, teachers, parents, and students to become educated about health risks from heavy backpacks and take preventive measures to avoid injury.

Requests the Board of Education develop policies allowing licensed chiropractors to conduct scoliosis examinations in schools.

Encourages schools to work with parent-teacher associations to assess student backpack weight and promote strategies to reduce the need for daily transport of all school materials and books.

Recommends schools educate about proper backpack use, including limiting weight to 10 percent of body weight, using both shoulder straps with padded adjustable straps, leaving heavy books at school, and considering electronic textbooks.

Suggests schools implement in-class education on backpack weight, such as using hanging scales in classrooms to enable students to weigh backpacks and track data to determine lighter load strategies.