Books is a valuable source of information.
Posted on 05/30/2002 10:19:54 AM PDT by socal_parrot
SACRAMENTO - Faced with opposition from the textbook-publishing industry, two Inland lawmakers weakened their school-backpack bill but kept it alive Tuesday.
The Assembly approved, 71-1, a measure that would require the state to mull whether heavy book bags that pediatricians say harm youngsters' spines can be avoided or made lighter.
Assemblyman Russ Bogh, R-Cherry Valley, said backpacks have created an epidemic of back problems among young people.
Assemblyman Rod Pacheco, R-Riverside, who is the bill's principal author, said he hopes the Senate will strengthen the measure.
As it emerged from the Assembly, AB 2532 would require the state Board of Education to conduct a survey of whether local school districts have done anything to reduce backpack weights. The board then would offer local districts suggestions.
The suggestions could include textbooks on CD-ROM and separate sets of textbooks, so each child could keep one at home and another at school.
Last month, when Pacheco and two Democratic lawmakers unveiled AB 2532, the bill required the state school board to limit the weight of textbooks.
In a letter opposing the bill, the Association of American Publishers said it would cost a lot of money to divide textbooks into more than one volume. Books have gotten heavier as California mandated more rigorous curriculum standards, the trade group said.
Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles, said the bill is not about giving less homework, just making sure that children are not carrying more weight than they can handle.
"Doing homework should not be hazardous to your health," he said.
Children are often carrying 25 percent of their weight on their backs, said Pacheco.
"Ninety pound children are carrying 40-pound backpacks," Pacheco said. "These burdens are creating severe medical difficulties."
The California Medical Association and the California Physical Therapists Association support the bill because childhood is a key time for spinal growth, which could be altered by carrying heavy backpacks.
The CPTA also said that it is seeing abnormal growth patterns in children's collarbones caused by too much weight on their shoulders and backs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Robert T. Garrett at (916) 445-9973 or rtgarrett@pe.com
;) ttt
Books is a valuable source of information.
Geez! You're no fun!
BTW, sounds like a heavy backpack would make up for the exercise lost due to all the PE classes that are being eliminated or turned into folk dancing classes.
When I was a kid I wouldn't have the nerve to whine to my parents about a heavy backpack. I would have heard a lecture about walking 2 miles each way to school in snow, rain...
One year I just decided not to return the emergency card, figuring that I could do without a locker and wanting to see if anyone would notice or care that I hadn't returned the emergency card.
As might be expected, no one did. Unfortunantly, I didn't do anything that year that would require a call home from the school admins, it would have been funny to see them trying to locate the non-existent emergency card.
I also didn't wear a coat/jacket in winter since I didn't have a place to put it. But northern VA winters are wimpy...
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