Overloaded schoolbags

Star: PETALING JAYA: It has been a perennial problem – school children lugging bags packed with books and other material.
With up to 20 textbooks and workbooks a child is asked to bring to school, the bag could weigh some 10kg each.
Medical experts have said that bags that are too heavy can cause back problems, including improper spinal alignment.
They said children are putting their health at risk by lugging bags designed for fashion rather than for their practicability and medical concerns.
Experts advised that the maximum weight for a backpack should not exceed 15% of a child’s total body weight.
Due to the weight of the books, parents are now buying bags that come with rollers.
The sound of the rollers were evident at SJK(C) Puay Chai and SK Sri Petaling.
Children whose bags didn't have rollers were seen carrying the bags on their backs.
The bags outsized some of the children.
One can imagine the weight the children have to carry when climbing the steps to their classrooms.
“There are just too many books in the syllabus. Some subjects, especially the language ones, require five or six exercise books, not counting the textbooks,” said a parent known only as Tan.
Some of the Year One pupils interviewed by The Star said they had to bring along at least 20 books.
When asked why they needed so many books, one of them said the teacher told to bring them.
Tan, who has two children in SJK(C) Puay Chai, said having the children use roller bags would prevent them from getting backaches and developing a hunch later in life.
“The bags have to be replaced every three months due to wear and tear,” she said.
At SK Sri Petaling, a 34-year-old housewife said her children, one of whom is in Year Two, had to bring 20 textbooks and 15 exercise books to school.
“One subject requires at least four books. This makes the bag very heavy,” she said.
She said she and other parents spoke to the teachers on the first day of school and were given the timetable but not told how many or which books the pupils had to bring for each subject.