The " pack horse " kids !

Once upon a time - and not so very long ago - one of the rites of passage from " kid " to " teenager " was the first day at high school when the new student was handed the keys to his or her personal locker.
This was a huge step in the area of becoming a " person ". That locker was a place of exclusive privacy where only the student had access - and it was intended by the school as a means of ordering the routine of school life by having all the things needed on hand.
Unfortunately modern times overtook this facility. The world of drugs intruded and every time a student was suspected of using or dealing the police needed to inspect that locker - and that introduced a huge legal problem. Search warrants were required and so the authorities decided that personal lockers would be abandoned.
That decision came at a huge price. Instead of having all the books and equipment needed for the average school day on hand pupils needed to bring them from home - and so came an item called " the back pack ".
Suddenly students were required not only to have all their school needs with them, but to also take them home at night to be able to do their homework - and this introduced a weight problem that can impinge on health.
The back pack for the average thirteen year old starting High school weighs in the vicinity of 8.6 kilo's - including cut lunch and water bottle but excluding equipment needed for sport.
Lugging that weight from home to school - and then back home again is something that concerns medical people. It might be reasonable for young people with big bodies but for those with a small frame there is a distinct risk of health damage and injury.
Perhaps the time is fast coming when the initial promise of the computer age is actually put into practice. We were promised a " paperless society " - and yet we still lug heavy school books as out points of reference. When the day comes that all students have access to a home computer there will be no reason why the contents of all those books should not be available on line. Then the heavy loads will vanish - as will the need for those abandoned personal lockers - but while that is happening the schools would be well advised to give thought to how to manage classes to regulate a smaller number of books needed each day.
A genius level of student is not a fair exchange for one with a ruined body !