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Why does my child carry his body-weight in books to school everyday?
Posted on 14th Feb 2012 | In Science With Mom! Blog
Every now and then it’s good to vent.
Why is it that my son’s backpack weighs more than he does?
I am sure I am not the only one to have noticed the weight of these things!
Our children are now like those ants we read about when we were children. You know, the ones that can lift 5 times their own weight. Or was it 3 times? Well, I’m sure I can find the answer in my son’s backpack because I’m pretty certain the sum total of human knowledge must be in there, somewhere.
No Child Left Behind?
When I first heard about the No Child Left Behind Act, I was so happy! Finally, the government had realized that our children’s book bags had gotten so heavy, our children were being left behind, literally. I envisioned the Secretary of Education coming home after a long day on Capitol Hill only to find her daughter toppled over on her back in the front hallway liked a flipped turtle, legs and arms waving furiously and pointlessly. The child had been left behind, and the Secretary thought to herself, “no more, this can’t happen, not in America, we have to do something!” Unfortunately, as we know, that was not the case. The No Child Left Behind Act had nothing to do with the Secretary of Education’s daughter. Turns out, it was her son. But I digress…back to reality.
The question is, what is it that our children are lugging back and forth to school each day? One evening, I asked my son to go through his three (I’m not kidding) school bags that he uses. He actually takes a different two of the three to school, depending on the day of the week. So we went through every scrap of paper, every notebook, every textbook, and he explained why he needed that particular item. The shocking thing was that, aside from a few extra paper clips, he convinced me he indeed needed every item.
Paperless society?
“Paperless society?” I think not. More like “more Paper! less society.” What do I mean by this? Well, scientists have now determined that American children spend more time in school than the average life expectancy for children born 500 years ago. Could that be true? I have no idea. I completely made that up. But my point is that our kids are spending more time in school than kids born 500 years ago. Of course, there were no schools 500 years ago, but while we may think that not going to school is a bad thing, at least their book bags were lighter! Anyway, in addition to spending more time in school, our kids are actually spending more time in school doing core school activities, and less time on the non-core activities: recess, lunch, music, arts, breathing, socializing, unstructured play, civics, ethics, religion. You know, those things that bind us together as a society.
So, taking inventory, our kid’s school bags are too heavy (and numerous!) and contain more information than the Library of Alexandria, our kids are spending more time in school, and more of that time percentage-wise is spent on schooling. So I would conclude that our children must be the smartest on the planet? Well, according to international studies, American children now rate 56th internationally in intelligence tests, right behind the sea turtles of the Galapagos Islands, who don’t even have book bags.
I do have a theory as to why our kid’s backpacks have gotten so heavy that most children must now use wheelie-bags! Our schools are being handcuffed by standardized testing gone mad. This means that during school hours, principals and teachers are teaching to the test simply to survive. This means there is a great deal of learning that has been outsourced to the child and their parents. Which is why my son brings home the school with him each night. He learns how to take the FCAT (Florida’s standardized test) by day, and learns about everything else at night at home. It’s an over-reliance and over-focus on standardized testing that is killing our children’s education (and their backs!).
The solution?
The solution? Easy. I found the answer in my son’s school bag of course. The answer is we (parents, teachers, children, and principals) have to push back. Enough is enough. We’ve had enough standardized tests. Just because we can measure something, does not mean we should. Trust me, I tried to weigh my son’s bag and broke the scale. And we are breaking our children with heavy bags, and silly exams. We are burning out our children by having them spend more time filling in bubbles with a number 2 pencil than learning about music, society, or simply how to get along with each other. It’s time that we let children be children, schools be schools, and homes be homes. When we turn our schools into standardized testing sweatshops, we risk breaking more than their backs. We risk breaking their love of learning, in which case, we are all being left behind.
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My wife and I often worried we were allowing our kids growth plates to be compromised
having to carry that weight. Schools now are mainly concerned with pushing kids through
and maintaining graduation numbers hence their jobs. If any actual working knowledge is gained good but that is not of utmost importance.
yes, i like it. These questions always strike me. When the teachers are resourceful, when proper teaching-learning materials are available, why do the children carry the burden of books?
moreover testing always cannot properly assess a child. The children should enjoy learning, love to know more and solve their own problems. We should follow a curriculum where universal love and bonding should be inculcated among them.
Most of schools standardize the students in the same level. they make the same test to the students based on their age. they forget that every child is unique and has different capability even in the same age.
From the teacher’s point of view: I teach elementary school and some parents insist that their children pack up their desks every day and haul it all home. They don’t do anything with it (because they don’t turn in their homework), but they haul it all home. Please parents, buy your kids paper and pencils to be kept at home.
As for the testing, enough is enough. These tests don’t prove anything. Most of the kids just color in the bubbles. When half my class finishes a 20 page reading test in less than 10 minutes, I know they didn’t read it. I am asked to “Cover” material because it’s on the test. I’m teaching a math concept each day, no time to practice, no time to learn, but I covered the concept. These tests and trying to cover the information (kids don’t master anything) are making our kids stupid. Get government out and let teachers do our jobs. We are trained; we are educated. We know what to do and how to do it. Let us do our job.
I agree 100%!! I did find a solution to my sons backpack issues by ordering a second set of books for him to have at home through http://www.amazon.com. I do realize that this is not an option for everybody for a variety of different reasons. You can however ask the school to provide your child with another set…they may not ba able to, but at least you have asked. i work at a middle school where the kids range in size from very tiny (maybe 60 pounds soaking wet) to very large (6′ tall and 200 pounds) and yet they carry the same size backpack.
I can go into why since our kids spend so much of their day in school that they should not even have that much homework and I could complain about it, but it seems no one listens. The Police Department in our town even did an informational thing on how much the backpack should weigh for your child and still nothing!
I think we as parents need to stand up to the bureaucracy and complain! I am soooooo tired of hearing all about the CMT’s and having it jammed down my child throat for 2 months before they even take the stupid tests. Personally, I think if the child has been taught properly over the last years, then they will do well on the tests…why do we try and shove information into them all at once before the test?!?
Ok, I am ranting now…anyways, not sure if there is an easy solution to this topic, but if there is I would love to know it!!
A good answer if one is brave enough to swim against the tide: homeschool. Plenty of time to focus on academics, provide good influences, enjoy family life and not get a broken back.
100% i agree with you.
Our child carries heavy books on the back, and knowledge in mind which can be loss by the time.
We need applied learning and attractive school
Well said, I couldn’t agree more. My kids wheeled-backpacks are so heavy, not even I can lift (and I have to take them up one flight of stairs each day). I have forbidden my sons to try and bring them downstairs when school is over, I told them to ask for an adult’s help, just in case they roll down the steps with them!!!
I also agree on the home-schooling part. It seems more and more is being taught at home.
Apart from homework, which is given for each subject every day, we have to spend time explaining to the kids the basics that the teachers didn’t have the time or interest to go through. Kids don’t seem to have enough time to play anymore or to enjoy just being home with the rest of the family; it is getting ridiculous! I wish more parents pushed back…
I have heard so many horror stories about students carrying too many books. I do not want that for my child, but I am kind of envious of your situation. My sons’ middle school does not offer their students text books so I can’t complain! They have a classroom set and can only take a book home when a parent makes a written request to the school counselor. There seems to be no middle ground in anything these days….maybe the ‘middle ground’ disappeared with the middle class! lol who knows! But you either have students dragging books weighing up to 2lbs each or you have students who have no text books and are forced to study their very thin and very badly written notes.
At work these backpacks would be a health and safety issue!
Lissette – that seems ridiculous too, not being allowed to bring any books home! There is no middle ground