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Inside students' heavy backpacks, why it's too much and how to help
Updated 7:56 AM ET, Thu October 22, 2015
What's inside those backpacks?
– CNN asked dozens of Atlanta students to open up their backpacks and reveal: What, exactly, is inthose big, heavy bags? Here's what we found.
Clarke, a kindergarten student at KIPP STRIVE Primary, said her favorite subject is "playing outside and learning stuff."
Health
What's inside those backpacks?
– Paris, a kindergarten student at KIPP STRIVE Primary, said she's just like Rarity, one of the My LittlePony characters on her backpack. "She's so fancy," Paris said.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Jahi, a student at KIPP STRIVE Primary, said he didn't want to carry his crayons anymore. "My mom tookcare of them because I said it was sooooo heavy," he said.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Ashe, a first-grade student at KIPP STRIVE Primary, said her folder was the most important thing in herbackpack.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Lawrence, a second-grade student at KIPP STRIVE Primary, said he's a huge sports fan, so hemost often uses his book from Mike Lupica's "Comeback Kids" series.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Aniyah, a second-grade student at KIPP STRIVE Primary, said her homework folder is the item sheuses most.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Dylan, a third-grade student at Westminster Lower School, said he wants to stop carrying his heavy"Harry Potter" book, but he liked having double-sided tape on hand in case he wants to build something.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Noah, a third-grade student at KIPP STRIVE Primary, said, "It feels like I'm carrying a 100-pound baby,but the stuff comes in really handy." If he could leave anything behind? "Probably one of my flashlights."
What's inside those backpacks?
– Brenner, a fourth-grade student at Westminster Lower School, said he didn't want to leave anythingfrom his backpack behind, whether it is his books or his National Geographic cards.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Arav, a fourth-grade student at Westminster Lower School, said he wanted to stop carrying somebooks because they make him feel like he's falling, but he still needs his agenda and spare headphones.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Jaia, a fourth-grade student at Westminster Lower School, said she often carries her keychaincollection and books, as well as her cello.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Alexa, a fifth-grade student at Westminster Lower School, said art is her favorite class and it doesn'trequire her to carry many supplies. She wishes she could stop carrying her physical education clothes, especially while they'reworking on swimming.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Caroline, a fifth-grade student at Westminster Lower School, said she uses the book she's readingfor fun more than anything else. She'll pull it out every time she has a quiet moment between classes or while she's waiting for herpart in chorus.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Raina, a sixth-grade student at KIPP WAYS Academy, said she wished she could leave her bindersbehind, but she takes them home so she can study more.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Jeremiah, a sixth-grade student at KIPP WAYS Academy, said a pencil is the most used item in hisbackpack, but he still has to carry his homework folder and an extra binder "for emergencies."
What's inside those backpacks?
– Aaliyah, a seventh-grade student at KIPP STRIVE Academy, said her SpongeBob SquarePantsbackpack is "perfectly fine," but she wishes she didn't have to carry her cheer practice clothing.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Jordan, a seventh-grade student at KIPP Strive Academy, said his backpack was twice itscurrent size when he was in fifth grade. Now, he mostly uses his homework folder and a clipboard so he can work on the bus.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Amber, an eighth-grade student at KIPP STRIVE Academy, said she's not allowed to use her iPad atschool, but she can't leave it behind because she uses it "for everything." Still, she has to carry her notebooks and books.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Oliver, an eighth-grade student at KIPP STRIVE Academy, said his backpack is heavy, "but not to thepoint where it's ridiculous." Still, several weeks into the school year, he was still carrying most of his class binders instead of usinghis locker.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Trey, a ninth-grade student at Westminster Upper School, said he wishes he could stop carrying hismath book. Most material can be found online, he said.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Isabella, a ninth-grade student at Westminster Upper School, said she's gotten used to carrying aheavy backpack, but she would rather use her computer than bulky textbooks.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Alex, a 10th-grade student at Westminster Upper School, said he wishes he could stop carrying hisFrench book, although his teachers have generally tried to cut back on books. Last year, he said, students used an onlineversion.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Chinara, a 10th-grade student at KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, said chemistry is her favorite class and shewishes she could stop carrying her notecards for studying world history.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Meghna, a 10th-grade student at Westminster Upper School, said she purchased an online textbookfor her favorite class, chemistry, but most courses don't offer a digital book.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Brandon, an 11th-grade student at KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, said he uses the binder for his favoriteclass, honors U.S. history, more than anything in his bag. But it also takes up the most space in his backpack, he said.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Allie, an 11th-grade student at Westminster Upper School, said it's tough to get back to her lockerbetween classes, so she tends to carry everything she might need with her, including her script for the musical "Titanic."
What's inside those backpacks?
– Elijah, an 11th-grade student at KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, said he never uses his locker. He prefers tokeep books for his Advanced Placement and honors courses with him in case he has a few minutes to get some homeworkdone while he's still at school.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Myles, an 11th-grade student at Westminster Upper School, said he stopped carrying his cello homemost days and stopped carrying his computer in order to lighten his load. Still, he has to carry his history book all the time --there's reading to do every night.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Tyler, an 11th-grade student at Westminster Upper School, said he uses his laptop most often, and hewishes he could stop carrying his history and math books.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Erickie, a 12th-grade student at KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, said math is his favorite subject and hiscalculus book is probably the item he uses most from his backpack -- but it's also the one he wishes he could stop carrying. "Itweighs the most," he said.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Berhan, a 12th-grade student at Westminster Upper School, said she often carries her art boardaround with her as well (not pictured), as art is one of her favorite classes.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Tyler, a 12th-grade student at Westminster Upper School, said he uses his computer more thananything else in his backpack. He carries less now than he did as a freshman, he said.
What's inside those backpacks?
– Sherrell, a 12th-grade student at KIPP Atlanta Collegiate, said she loves reading and writing, and sheuses her laptop daily to write college essays and look for scholarships. But if she could stop carrying anything? "The wholebookbag," she said.
CNN asked dozens of students to share what's inside their backpacks
Occupational therapist: A backpack should weigh no more than 10% of a child's body weight
When they head off to school every morning, the students of today need their laptops and tablets and a chargerfor both. Yes, they still have to bring books for calculus, history, science and French.
Notebooks? Check. Binders, too, and agendas and planners and bundles of sharpened pencils and fresh pens.Oh, and a book for pleasure -- Harry Potter is still popular, if weighty.
They can't leave behind their swimsuit for gym class, their shoes for cheerleading, their sweats for football, ortheir French horns or cellos. Don't forget snacks. Cookies, crackers, an apple. Lots of water bottles.
Then there's all the little stuff that's buried at the bottom, just in case. Hairbrushes. Flashlights. Chess pieces. Aball to toss around. An origami frog, just because it's awesome.
Dozens of students in Atlanta opened their backpacks to CNN to reveal: What's really inside those big, heavybackpacks, anyway?
None of this surprises Karen Jacobs, a clinical professor in occupational therapy at Boston University. Backpacksbecome a "portable life support system" filled with supplies and goodies students probably won't need that day,but feel they must carry anyway, she said. The general rule: Backpacks should weigh no more than 10% of achild's weight. She can spot changes in students' postures in any school hallway.
"They look like turtles; they're walking forward, the posture changed," said Jacobs, who is past president of theAmerican Occupational Therapy Association, which touts a backpack awareness day as children head back toschool every fall. "Some will complain they have headaches, pain in the shoulders, neck, backs."
In the short-term, students might notice aches and pains, but most won't realize that backpacks could be toblame. Few students told CNN their backpacks were too heavy, although most admitted they sometimesstruggle to lift them, and it can be uncomfortable to carry them for more than a few minutes.
Long-term, children and teens with back problems are more likely to become adults with back problems, Jacobssaid. More research is needed to uncover whether heavy backpacks are causing other lasting effects or makingpeople shorter, though, she said.
One small 2010 study of eight children published in the journal Spine found that heavier loads compressed theirspines. A much larger 2012 study published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood did not see significant effectson the spines of 1,400 students who carried backpacks. Another study, published in BioMed ResearchInternational in August, studied 109 7-year-olds in Poland. It found that backpacks heavier than 10% of a child'sbody weight can cause the back to lean one way or another, and that lighter backpacks could ease the strain ontheir spines.
In all cases, researchers found that too-heavy backpacks can leave children in pain.
So, what's inside those bags?
The many, many things they carried
Not every backpack was too heavy. Some older students said they'd learned to cut down their load as they'dgotten closer to graduation. The youngest children often carried just a paperback book, a folder and a fewcolored pencils or markers. Jahi Polk, a first grader at KIPP STRIVE Primary in Atlanta, said when he didn't want tocarry his crayons anymore, he spoke up.
"My mom took care of them because I said it was sooooo heavy," he said.
Then there's Elijah Marbuary, an 11th grader at KIPP Atlanta Collegiate high school, who carried the heaviestbackpack CNN weighed. He is studying advanced placement literature, environmental science, geography andU.S. history, honors pre-calculus, and he's in student government and band. (His French horn, at least, stays inone place most of the time.) He rarely gets home before 8 p.m., he said, so he tries to finish as much work aspossible before then. The only way to take advantage of the time is to keep all his materials close.
"I just like to have all my stuff with me," he said. "I don't want to bother a teacher, asking him to go to my locker."
Noah, third grade, 8.9 pounds
"I just like to have all my stuff with me," he said. "I don't want to bother a teacher, asking him to go to my locker."
Some don't have access to lockers, or they prefer not to use them. The hallways are too crowded, and it takestoo long to stop between classes, students said. There's a culture of carrying a big backpack in some grades,too. Allie Jeffay, an 11th grader at Westminster Upper School in Atlanta, said she used her locker in earliergrades, but it was less convenient now, even though her backpack topped 23 pounds. She needed some of herschool books, but she really just enjoyed having a few things of her own, like her script for the musical "Titanic."
"It's really fun to have that physical manifestation of what you're doing," she said. "We only get to keep them for amonth or two."
Westminster Lower School fourth-grader Jaia Alli's backpack weighed more than 11 pounds and includedkeychains of Mickey Mouse and a Minion, plus her swim clothes, her agenda and her materials to study chess.She gravely said she tried to keep it light: "I don't want to have to spend a few days in the hospital."
Noah Amos, a third-grader at KIPP STRIVE Primary, had a hard time choosing which item he uses most. Histablet? His index cards for studying? His notebook? All of them, he said. If he had to leave something behind, hesaid, it would probably be one of his two flashlights. You know, just in case.
"It feels like I'm carrying a 100 pound baby," he said, "but the stuff really comes in handy."
The safest way to wear a backpack
Of course, most students don't need to have a heavy backpack, but they do need to be reminded to clear it out.
Jacobs from the American Occupational Therapy Association has this advice for parents: Avoid the temptation tobuy a backpack just because it features a beloved cartoon character, or a bag that gives a child room to grow.That probably just means it's too big, and too easy to overfill.
Allie, 11th grade, 23.5 pounds
U.S.
World
Instead, look for a backpack made of lightweight material with two fully padded straps and a padded back. Itshould fit below the shoulder blades and stop at the waist. For older students, hip straps can help keep it inplace. It doesn't need to have a lot of compartments, Jacobs said -- if students have them, they will fill them --but you might want a bag with a side pocket for a water bottle, as many young people carry them in school.
When packing the bag, get in the habit of putting the heaviest items closest to the student's back. Look for otherways to lighten the load, Jacobs said, like soft lunch containers and lightweight water bottles. For young peoplewho haul large musical instruments or awkward sports equipment, look for cases or carts that move on wheels.
Urge young people to take the time to slip both straps on, rather than slinging a strap over one shoulder. Parentsand teachers can always ask this simple question, too: Do you need that?
"Kids are responsive to education because they don't want to be in pain, they don't want to trip and fall, theydon't want to walk in a funny way," Jacobs said. "Do they need that extra battery? Do they really need to [carry]their science book when they don't have science? Would it make sense to have smaller binders for each of thesubjects?"
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