Increasing Weight on Tiny Shoulders: Schoolbags and Education System!
With increasing levels of knowledge, the burden of school bag is also increasing. Recently, lots of debates have been surrounding the topic of school bags and their heaviness.
Back in the 1980’s, a renowned novelist, RK Narayan highlighted the issue of the heaviness of school bags in Rajya Sabha. While the debates clouded the matter, the committee issued certain instructions to CBSE and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan entailing the heaviness of school bags and the plight of children. Just after few days, the fire of the Rajya Sabha school bag discussion turned into ashes.
But, while entertaining all the debates, the weight of the school bags made a comeback recently all over again.
The agenda of the increasing weight of the school bags was revived again by the opposition at parliament to study the measures taken by the Government of India. To no doubt, states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have successfully formulated the measures to deal with the weight and sagging bodies of the children.
Tamil Nadu has adopted the trimester system, under which the size of the Textbooks have been tailored and the content is bifurcated in such a manner, that the duration of each study session is reduced. Whereas in Maharashtra, digitization is booming the schools and books are partially being replaced by tablets and digital study material. Thus, reducing the weight of the school bags.
Yet there are majorities of children undergoing various problems due to the heavyweight of the school bags.
HEAVY BAGS AND IMPACT ON THE BODY
The heaviness of the school bags poses a major impact on the health of a growing human. The strap of a bag pressurizes the spine of a child and leads to stooping shoulders. Thus, making the body droop on the front due to which children end up walking like chimpanzees.
Carrying a heavy bag to school is definitely a distressing experience for every child. With the development in the core community of education, the heavy school bags are not only affecting the health of the students but are also a medium of demotivation against the morning activeness. A heavyweight on the developing shoulders poses a major threat to the skeleton system and leads to a stunted growth of the bones.
OVERBURDENED CHILDREN AND TECHNOLOGY
Nowadays schools are providing a wide variety of subjects and recreational learning for developing the Vocational Skills of children. Developed and developing brands of school are talking about creative learning. Now does this mean that a maximized scale of learning will lead to overburdened children under the literal pressure of books? What are we developing for if just we cannot unburden our little ones?
Being an answer to this problem, the technological boom can help us in managing the situation. The spurt of knowledge provided using technological equipments such as Smart Classes, Tablets, and Online Study Material are those mediums of knowledge that are developing each day. Making use of smart technology for imparting lessons in the book can actually help us light the pressure on the tiny shoulders and promote stress-free learning in the early formative years.
PARENTS AND STRESS-FREE BAGS – HOW??
We emphasize on the fact that parents need to contribute their bit towards the stress-free bags of their kids. There are various ways in which parents can help children in managing the weight of their bag. Some of them are:
- Buy the lightest one!
Whether it’s about compass box, lunch box or school bag; buy a lightweight stuff to avoid accumulating the additional fixed weight to the daily material.
- Smart Stuffing
Settle the bag smartly in order to avoid chaos and mismanaged burden. Keep the heavier books at the bottom, and light ones on the top along with the necessary accessories. Avoid the clutter of material all at a single place.
- Only Essentials… Nothing else!
Following a timetable can be fruitful to lessen the weight of the bag. Encourage children to follow the timetable. Keep a constant check on the excessive papers and stationery or other items in the bag.
- Broader Straps and Firmer Base.
Choosing an ergonomic bag, i.e. comfortable and efficient, with all possible supportive features can be a good option. A bag with a firm base and broader straps will distribute the pressure of the material on the shoulders and becomes easy to carry.
- Relax a bit!
Teach your child to relax a bit every time they need to wait. This can be done while waiting at the bus stop, traveling by metro, during the assembly, etc.
- Correct posture
The posture of a child while holding the bag can speak a lot about his struggle with the weight carried daily. If your little ones are bending forward or have rounded shoulder while carrying weight, it shows that the bag is either too heavy or mismanaged inside. Encourage your kids to walk with a straight spine and try not to bend. Also, keep a regular check on the weight of the bag.
If you are taking care of such small details for your child, then it will definitely help them enjoy their enriching school life joyously and manage the burden of a school bag.
There is a lot that we along with the parents of the little ones can do to nurture our future leaders. Switching over to options for advancement can de-stress this situation and the tired pupils.
Childhood is meant for blooming. Let it go burden free!
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