Tend to tender backs

SEEING primary schoolchildren lug bulky bags is heart-wrenching. Surveys only corroborate what every parent feels: the burden is hurting their child’s tender back. It even exposes a child to the risk of long-term medical ailments, such as deformed spine and hunched back. Carrying over 15 per cent of their body weight over their shoulders to and from school can cause lasting damage to children, say health experts. Doctors point a finger at this avoidable load as they are treating an increasing number of young kids suffering from back, shoulder or neck pain and even a slipped disc. It is criminal to let the children bear such load for which they may have to pay an enormous physical and emotional price throughout their lives. We do not want a generation of hunch-backed youth to pass out from schools. It is the kids’ right to have a happy and healthy childhood.

Thus, the government’s recent order putting a cap on the weight of school bags by limiting subjects class-wise is welcome. The no-homework policy and prescription of only the subjects of language and mathematics up to class II is groundbreaking and a sure antidote to the present back-breaking heavy bags. In subsequent classes, there will be need to regulate the homework with the weight limit prescribed. The education boards and schools must now ensure that an ecosystem is built around this policy for their pupils. For starters, provide lockers to store books and stationery. Judicious use of digital platforms is another. 

As is observed and established, not all knowledge and education essential for happy and successful lives comes from books. Fewer books give more space for extra-curricular  activities. Besides being fun, they are loaded with life’s lessons, offering the children the much-needed values of sharing and bonding. The youngsters could do well to be equipped with such skills as they prepare to step out and face the big wide world. Which is not an easy task, as most adults would testify.