IN SCR0012

Indiana General Assembly strongly recommends that all school administrators, teachers, parents, and students be educated about the potential health impact of heavy backpacks and take proactive measures to avoid injury

More than 7,000 emergency room visits annually are due to backpack-related injuries according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, with nearly 28,000 strains, sprains, dislocations, and fractures treated in 2010 alone

Spinal ligaments and muscles are not fully developed until after age sixteen, making overweight backpacks a source of repeated stress that may result in chronic neck, shoulder, or back pain in children

Studies show backpacks exceeding ten percent of a child's body weight increase spinal curvatures and compressed intervertebral height, with more than ninety percent of students carrying backpacks weighing up to twenty-five percent of body weight

Secretary of the Senate must transmit a copy of the resolution to Jennifer McCormick, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction