46% of students who participated in a survey of the weight of school bags confirmed that their children's bags weigh more than 10 kilograms, as the school bag constitutes an obsession for the child and his family to weigh heavily, prompting families to complain frequently of what they described as «the daily suffering of children Backs ».
In detail, a survey conducted by «Emirates Today» on its account on the social networking site «Twitter», which was attended by more than 500 people, that 30% of respondents confirmed that the weight of the school bag for their children ranges between 10 and 15 kg, while 16% of respondents indicated The weight of the school bag for the children of 54% of the participants less than 10 kg.
Emirates Today informed the Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi of complaints from students in private schools about the weight of their children's school bags, which exposes them to health damages, and their questions about why books were not left in schools. No response was available.
Students in private schools in Abu Dhabi confirmed that the problem of the school bag and the inability of children to carry it appears in the number of parents who take their children daily to the classroom door to carry bags, pointing out that many families stopped participating in school buses because of the difficulty of carrying the child For the bag from the bus stand to the classroom, because the child needs to climb the stairs, they stressed their fear that the weight of the bag will affect the weight of their children in their physical structure.
"The child's shoulder and back do not bear the weight of five kilograms," said the father of one student, Abu Khalifa. "Did the education experts notice the muscle effort when carrying four kilograms for 10 minutes?"
“Providing a wheeled bag does not solve the problem, but increases it, because a lot of classrooms are in the first floor, and the child needs to carry the bag and get it over 20,” said Ibtisam Khalaf, a first-year student at a private school in Abu Dhabi. "It is a burden, and two iron columns in the back of the bag affect the back and spine and increase its curvature."
While the mother of a child in the first grade, Mai Sayyed, that «the weight of her daughter's bag up to 12 kilograms, where the girl carries daily in her bag two books for Arabic and Islamic books, science and mathematics, and English and Islamic education, and national education, and some days Stories are sent in Arabic and English to read at home and return, pointing out that the large number of books forced them to add a small bag for the food box ».
The father of a ninth-grade student, Mohammed Khalid, that his son is currently suffering from back pain, which has doubled in the last two years due to carrying school bags filled with books, especially with the increase of academic requirements, and the consequent increase in the number of books carried by students, and supported him in The student's father Sameh Abdel Karim, pointing out that the school bag has become a burden on the student because of the load that exceeds his ability as a child, stressing that the adult person feels its weight and senses his shoulder less than three minutes after carrying.
Parents of students called on the Department of Education and Knowledge, to search for methods and solutions that are useful, useful and scientifically feasible on the ground, which contribute to the organization of school day classes, school schedule and homework, which would all contribute effectively to reduce the weight of the school bag, and suggested that the Department Schools split the textbook and printed it in three parts, each part of a semester, so that the student does not cost to carry a large book but carry part of each book, in addition to choosing the quality of the covers and light papers appropriate to reduce the weight of the bag.
The students suggested that each day be allocated a week for each subject so that the student carries each day books and pamphlets of one article, or the direction of technical solutions, or require private schools to make a special cupboard for each student to save his books.
For their part, orthopedic and pediatricians, warned of the dangers of the weight of the school bag on the body of the students and its impact on the shoulder and spine, and cause deformation of the body, pointing out the importance of the child does not face difficulties when lifting the bag.
The consultant orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Yaqoub Al Hammadi, said that the weight of the school bag affects the child's spine, so the size and weight of the bag should be proportional to the student's weight and height, because the excess weight leads to warp in the spine, and great pressure on the vertebrae, pointing out that The seriousness of these problems is that they do not appear until after age, where the child at this stage is unable to express the problem.
The specialist in pediatrics, in one of the private hospitals, Dr. Hala Habib, the need to be a proportion and proportion between the weight of the child and the year and the weight of the school bag, so that the weight of the bag does not exceed 10 to 15% of the weight of the child so as not to be affected by the spine He pointed out that scientific studies have warned of the health consequences on school students because of carrying a school bag with heavy weights, where excess weight leads to problems in the ribs and muscles of the neck and upper and lower back, shoulders, legs and feet.
Orthopedic and pediatricians, Amjad Rushdie, Basil Ali, Osama Mohammed and Maha Hamed agreed that carrying heavy school bags affects health and causes spinal warp.
Attempts to relieve burdens
Private school officials say the idea of digitizing textbooks and using iPads as a substitute for paperwork requires a huge financial cost to equip a qualified infrastructure and convert its curriculum into an electronic, or guardian, who will be able to buy the equipment, as well as its ability. To follow the student through electronic study.
They pointed out that the majority of schools have a website on which homework is downloaded, to be printed and answered by the student.Also, copies of some books, in addition to extra-curricular materials, are available, as well as school administrations trying to distribute weekly classes in a balance that reduces the burden on students.