Let's Take a Load Off

Take a Load Off
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there are more than 6,500 emergency room visits each year by children ages 5 to 18, which stem from injuries related to carrying heavy backpacks or book bags. Additional research by the CPSC shows that by the end of their teen years, nearly 60 percent of children experience at least one lower-back pain incident. As a result, over the past decade, schools and backpack companies have been looking for a reasonable alternative to the weighty backpacks that students carry today. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a student’s backpack weigh no more than 10 to 20 percent of a student’s weight, but Consumer Reports highly recommends keeping the weight closer to 10 percent. The spine was designed to carry large loads, but only for short distances, and not often. The average high school backpack weight is 22.5 lbs., and carrying it around all the time cause a wide range of back problems. The point I’m trying to make is, how many times a day do you have to pick up your 20 plus pound backpack and lug it to your next class in the other building, or to lunch, or to the gym along with your clothes and sports equipment?
While keeping this daunting task in mind, it should be known that to attack this problem head on we must eliminate textbooks as much as possible. The giant textbooks that students carry around from class to class take a toll on the back and the environment. Apple founder, Steve Jobs, may have solved this whole dilemma for us.   Steve Jobs is the creator of the IPad, a revolutionary 1½-pound tablet the size of a piece of paper that is always up-to-date and internet-connected. This is not just a reasonable alternative to textbooks; it’s a superior one.
Now, I believe we can kill two birds with one stone by using the IPad by greatly reducing the number of back injuries caused by backpacks and modernizing the way we learn. With the large number of books that are...