One more day until the school term starts for us (no…I’m not counting down…really), and we’ve got everything ready – thank goodness. The girls claimed they’ve got their bags packed – hat and sunscreen in their bags – and all the kids’ uniforms are ready to go! Yes, they can’t wait to go back to school either. We definitely have had enough of each other I think.
I remember in back in my day…gosh can’t believe I just sprouted that line! Ok, back to it, I remember when I was in primary school and having to carry this huge bag filled with books. I think our kids are pretty lucky to only have to carry their snacks, lunches, drink bottle and maybe their reader to school and back. Not much in there, which is a good thing. I used to have to drag my books to and from school everyday. Where I was from, Singapore, we didn’t have lockers to store our books in. We would have a time table telling indicating which books we would need and usually it’s a whole lot of books. My grandmother used to feel so sorry seeing me going to school with that big bag full of books. Yes, it was heavy. Some parents even sewed in sponges on the straps of the backpacks to help their kids feel more comfortable. The bags normally don’t last the year too. But that was the only fun bit I thought – we get new bags each year! They were pretty cheap too compared to what we have these days.
Then came high school – we call it secondary school. That’s when you tend to assert your individuality or in most cases try to emulate your peers. Sure we carried backpacks, but we wouldn’t be deemed as cool if we carried both straps on our shoulders. No….it would have to be just on that one shoulder. Regardless of the load we had to carry. And no, we still didn’t have lockers then. It was “trendy” – yeah, but little did we know it wasn’t a good thing for our backs. As if you’d listen if you did know anyway at that age.
Miss 10 (yes she turned 10 last week!), started the same “trend” last year. Carrying her backpack on one shoulder and I think my nagging has become white noise to her. Each time I send or pick her up from school, she’ll hear me tell her to “please carry your bag on both shoulders, it’s bad for you back to carry it on just that one strap”. She’ll do it, but then would revert to the one strap on one shoulder “trend” when I’m out of sight – or so she thinks. Thankfully, her load isn’t heavy – just lunch box, drink bottle and hat. Sometimes, some notebooks, but that’s about it. Not that heavy. Nevertheless, I still think it’s essential for us to help our kids understand how important it is to carry their bags properly so as not to damage their spine.
Here are some helpful tips from Dr Helen Alevaki and Dr Angus Pyke of the Chiropractors Association of Australia (Vic):
- Make sure that the school bag isn’t weighing more than 10% of your child’s weight.
- The size of the school bag is just as important – it should be no wider than your child’s chest and the weight should be evenly distributed evenly across their back. This is why they need to carry it on BOTH shoulders.
- Most bags come with waist straps nowadays, encourage your child to use them and ensure that the shoulder straps are broad and padded.
- This one is great for those with high school kids – only bring what’s needed for the day and store heavy books in their lockers instead.
- Heavy items should be placed at the base of the back pack, which is closer to the spine.
With these tips in mind, hopefully we can help our kids save their spine from any damage in the future. What other tips have you got to share now that school is almost (if not already) back?
