Small children carry 5kg bags daily to school. I remember an incident when a child excited to get her new bag loads it up with all the books according to the timetable. She then pretends to be ready for the school and with great vigour picks up her bag. As soon she picks it up she is imbalanced and falls off. Well this time the bag saved her back from hitting the floor but did some deal of damage to her spine.
Kids constantly complain about shoulder and neck pains due to heavy bags. An alternative to heavy bags could be 1 note book for all subjects. A provision to keep books in school for all week days. It has been seen that heavy bags also leads to a lot of absenteeism as children prefer to stay at home one a day of heavier bag. Schools definitely help in mental growth but it is coming in way of physical growth. With lighter backs on our backs we can enjoy our school and progress towards mental and physical growth.
SHRIEYA MOHAN
Geography honours-2nd year
Shivaji college
Summer Intern 2014 with Uday Foundation