It is 17 years since a Department of Education working group on the weight of school bags advised boards of management to take steps to lighten the daily load on students’ shoulders.
The former Teachers’ Union of Ireland president , Independent Senator Gerry Craughwell, raised the issue in the Seanad before the summer recess, citing evidence that many children are carrying bags up to 50 per cent of their body weight when the recommended guideline was 10-15 per cent.
The department is urging schools to use book rental or digital resources, where possible, to reduce the weight-load.
After watching her own children struggle with heavy school bags, Wicklow mother of four Margo Fleming came up with the idea of “Booksplits”, cut-and-paste packs that allow students to leave at home the section of texbooks not being used in class.
She says the business is going from strength to strength, with parents seeing an added resale value in the split books. It’s time for schools to take action with Craughwell citing “a worrying increase in reported cases of back-related injuries in children and teenagers including scoliosis, with many children at risk of long-term and permanent damage to their still developing spines”.
