"The cd idea is good but what if someone doesn't have a computer? Some say go to a library, others say go to a friend's house.but what if your like me you live in a tiny town wherethe library is like antique. The city (with a library) that is close to my tiny town is 15 mins away. and i don't think parents would like to drive 15 mins all the days of a school year. and my friends are 15,5, and 20 mins away from my house. so it's abad and good idea "

"i think that the school should allow more passing time in the halls for the kids to put some items away that wont be needed instead of some kids jamming everything in there backpack which adds the weight which would create problems. i have a 'hunch' in my back a slight one and i am only a freshman! it is nuts on how teachers expect you to have all the necessary items in such little time. "

"I'm a student at a middle school situated on a campus. Here, lockers have been completely eliminated except for the gym lockers, which are more cubbies with doors than they are lockers. This means I need to be constantly lugging around five or six oversized textbooks all over campus because I don't have anywhere to put them, and the school has blatantly refused to give us an extra set of books. I've tried all kinds of bags and none of them worked. Backpacks cause back pain. Messenger bags are the same as wearing your backpack with only one shoulder strap-- the imbalanced weight requires constant shifting from shoulder to shoulder and made my own shoulder swell up and bruise. Rolling backpacks are really the only option to avoid personal pain, but they're a huge nuisance when it comes to traveling; they're noisy, difficult to carry up and down stairs and its very easy to trip and hurt people with them. There really is no 'best' option, just go with whatever suits you best. "

"After reading the articles, it is nice to hear that some schools are emilinating backpacks! For those that live in California: Assembly Bill 2532 Chapter 1096 Education Code 49415"

"What is with the backpacks? Why does every parent think that's the only option? My daughter started kindergarten with a packpack and was complaining of her back hurting all the time. We found and tried a messenger bag, now 5 years later, she still uses a messenger bag and has not complained of back pain since. She was the first in her school to use a messenger bag, now many others have also found they work much better than a backpack. Take some advice and ditch the backpacks, there are other alternatives much healthier for your kids."

"You have to understand that not all people have money for light weight back packs!My parents had to make their own back packs out of jeans or leather and they where really heavy.Not all people have so much money.Some people have barely 30.00 for school supplies and clothes.Not me but when I lived in Arizona it was like that."

"It's ridiculous to even suggest block scheduling in order for kids to take home less books. As a student once in a block schedule school, I find it more important to have an overloaded mind than an overloaded backpack."

"Two of my four children attend David Hinson Middle school in Daytona Beach and the Principal banned all back-packs as soon as the school opened 2 years ago. He has been following the health issues for 10 years and is the only principal in Volusia County to take this step. I would like to see them banned country wide."

"I remember when I was in Jr. and High School. I had alot of books to carry. Because of that I now have a bad back that gives out at times. I believe that giving the option to have the materials on cd or internet is a great idea. And like someone else wrote if a student doesn't have a computer they can have the extra book because it will be available. The schools won't have to buy extra books so that is always a plus for the school system. Very few people these days do not have a computer, and there is always the library where they can use there computer for free. Kids these days have to go through so much to get an education I think that if we help them in what we can they would be more willing to go to school to learn. If we don't help our children now our future doesn't look to good with so many kids dropping out of school."

"a tip for carrying less weight: instead of carrying a binder for every subject you have for homework, take out just the notes you need for that class and put them in a separate binder. that way, if you have homework for all your classes, you don't have to carry around 4 or more binders with additional notes that you aren't even using, you just have one binder (or folder or duotang)with just a few pieces of paper. another tip: don't carry a pencil case back and forth, leave it in your locker, and have another one at home. one last tip, if you have nothing to do at lunch, try to work on homework at lunch and get it done, especially for subjects with textbooks because that's one less thing to carry home"

"i agree with that that student form pennsylvania. We are not on block schedule and we are not going back to it. The school doesnt really like it cause of the long periods. But we do have a lot of people with back problems. I can also use it as advice for mii self and others I like this cuz i can use some of the info for mii newspaper for mii school. "

"Here in my childrens school district mesh backpacks are needed to protect the students and teachers from violent acts. I did not know this nor was informed by the school. There is not a violence problem in my area but other areas are and this prompted our district to inforce this. Parents did not get a chance to vote on the nor have they been warned. My family is on a fixed income and buying two sets of bookbags is a hard thing to do.Are school required to inform of such changes? "

"I am a high school student and all of the suggestions make sence, but they don't work in our school district. We no longer have block schedualing, and its looking as if it will not be coming back, the school district has already turned down the idea of the second set of books, and when we did have the internet-based curriculum, the company hosting it messed everything up. It is inevitable to have to carry home huge books. In some classes we even have 2 or 3 books. None of them are small. Teachers don't care about any other class but their's and if thet means they give you one hour of homework, using 2 different books, oh well. I have a pretty large bookbag and I usually can't fit all of my books and binders in it. I sometimes have to take 6-7 books home along with the required binders for those subjects. I get on the bus piled up with books and binders. I have a horrible back and I can't stand having to hurt myself over homeowrk, its painful enough just doing it."

"I think the idea to have curriculm on cd's for the students to take home makes more sense than buying duplicate books. It would be more cost effective and the kids who don't have a computer could go to the library or study with a friend. I am all for saving my kids backs as I know first hand the consequences of carrying too many books."

"I understand the dress codes,but we should have a choice what to wear as long as it is not short shorts or skirts.Think about it you are a student your mother or someone got you a new outfit you are so proud of it ,and you want everone at school to see it,but you couldn't because it didn't met school dress code.I thinck there are bullys telling people that they areugly or their voice is differnt or they're fat it continues,the kids or teens can feel good of what the are whearing and free that they can choice what to wear."

"I used to teach at a high school with block scheduling. It was a horrible idea! The teachers and students all hated it; the only people that liked it were the administrators, because they thought it saved money. However, with block scheduling, you cover LESS material during the year, because you assign less homework, and the students have less time to assimilate the lessons into their long-term memory, due to there being less repetition of the material. Here in MA, the trend is also to cut down on lunch periods...some schools give students as few as 22 minutes!! There isn't time for the kids to go to there lockers to switch books. There's also no break for them. No wonder the kids are acting up more. "

"If extra copies of textbooks are available at school, ask the teacher for a copy of the text to use at home. The other text can be used in class, reducing the number of books carried to and fro."

"My school has illaminted lockers and i hate it! My back aches everytime that i come home from school! They staff seems to think that double sets of books will help but not every teacher has double sets. So we end up having to carry those books around with us all day, every day! Plus we have to carry our bags at lunch cause their arent even enough places to sit! I think my back is going to split in two cause it sure feels like it! "

"I think part of the reason that lockers are becoming obsolete is that teachers find the banging of locker doors noisy and irritating. My daughter's backback weighs about 40 pounds and she is constantly complaining of her back hurting because of the wight and number of books she has to tote around all day due to lack of time to use her locker. Classes are spread out all over the campus and children have no time to do anything except change classrooms. "

"hi i am also from california and aam writing an essay on backpacks. i am in the 7th grade and have no lockers. My friends and i are forced to carry around a great about of books. I think the cd-rom idea is great and if you don't have a computer at home then you would be given 2 sets of books because there would be enough available. my essay is improving because of this site. also, so students may think rolling backpacks are not cool. so they need to follow all of the good procedures. "

"I am a senior in high school. we have about 350 students. Just this past year they have eliminated backpacks. It is so much tougher on us to be hauling our books by hand from class to class. our tardy rate has also trippled. students do not have the time (nor energy ;) ) to go and get their books from their lockers. I find myself tardy every morning after practice because the bell rings and i need to go across school to the senior hallway where my locker is located and back upstairs to my first period class. then most of the time i realize I've left my second period books in my locker because i forgot while i was running. dont just take it from the parents point of veiw. yes they are bad for our backs.. but only if you put your whole day in your back pack. if we can limit ourselves to half the day its half as much and half as much stress. remember, stress is a huge health issue also. so dont be just thinking about your or your kids backs. "

"I'm in favor of action at the school level possibly involving the PTA to assit with raising funds for a second set of books. another option would be for the parents to be able to rent a set of books for home but then that leaves the problem with storing books at school when no lockers are available. There has to be a solution. Growing up I never remembered having this problem and I attended and private school. Why has this become such a burden now? "

"There are a lot more parents than there are school administrators. There is strength in numbers. When every parent simply says enough, his issue will be resolved. When every parent says, 'I don't care what you say, my child will not carry this load,' then schools will have to do something. As long as we go on passively accepting that our children must carry these loads, they will be forced to do so. When we just say no! then they will come up with alternate solutions. I have already done this. I told the elementary school that my son attends that he will no longer carry the books, which often weigh nearly 1/3 of his body weight. His teacher carries them downstairs, and I go into the school and get them. I know that everyone can't do this, but everyone could simply write a letter stating that the child is not under any circumstances to carry more than 10% of his/her body weight. If the schools were flooded with letters like this, you can better believe that something would be done. What it is going to take is just a simple refusal to do it. "

"I am very concerned about the elimination of lockers in our local schools. I have a nephew that weighed his backpack and it weighed 48 lbs. Our school refuses to provide two sets of books because of the cost. If the students leave their books in the class -- it is their responsibility if it is lost or stolen. I think this is wrong and I will be looking into this issue before my child is higher in grade level. "

"You can remove lockers and backpacks but a student who is going to bring something to school that is dangerous will do it with or without the lockers and backpacks allowed in school. I bought my 4th grade daughter a backpack with wheels and the school didn't want her to use it for safety reasons. I requested to have a set of textbooks for home but with the shortage of funding for schools will every child have a textbook to use at home? As for the cd-rom, does every child have a computer to use at home? Will the school provide one per student? To go on-line with four children not including myself will cost alot of money for services or will they offer to be networked from the schools to the homes for students only at no cost to the student? "

"I am writing a paper on backpack awareness and I would like to share to everyone that this is a great website but this is also not whying I am writing to you over here on the west coast we have some problems but not as much like the west where you all are replying to, but at out school we have lockers near by and we get to locker every 3 periods and what I think the should do to those school's is an area for students to locker to stop all this commotion and get kids standing up straight not with a curve! "

"I know this won't be solved in my child's time in school, but she has developed major back problems due to her school having no lockers and a backpack equal to 1/3 of her body weight (30 lbs of required books). Many teachers require heavy binders and carrying all turned back work every day. Rolling backpack is not an option, she developed a ganglion cyst in her wrist from hauling it up the bungalow steps that she has for every class. Even the principal was unable to lift her backpack easily! But she shrugged her shoulders and said she couldn't do anything about it. "

"If classes were orderly, quiet, and productive during the school day, it would not be necessary to carry so many books home. If schools were smaller, a child could keep their books in a home room locker or cubby. These long term solutions would benefit the masses. I imagine that they will not be considered in this current educational ($)climate. "

"If the size of text books cannot be reduced, then its prudent to have two sets of text books. Perhaps a token deposit refundable at the end of the school year would ensure that parents take responsibility to return the second set. Prevention they say is better than cure. "