Backpack Backaches

The weight of Ventura sixth-grader Roxanne Buckridge’s world is resting on her shoulders.

Crammed in the girl’s backpack are her social studies book, binder, novel, gym shoes, socks, two water bottles, four pens, one pencil, two dollar bills, and about 80 cents in change. All that weighs 17 pounds--or nearly a third of her own petite build.

Across town, fifth-grader Kayla Lewis has found a trendy solution: a backpack on wheels. All across Southern California, young students are returning to campuses this year with the suitcase-like rolling packs--making some schools look like busy airports.

Kayla says she is happy to get the load off.

“When we have a lot of homework, I feel lucky because I have a rolly backpack,” said the 10-year-old.

Ever heavier backpacks, causing students to lean over--and sometimes fall over--have been a concern for parents and teachers for years. But now doctors are warning that heavy packs can cause headaches, back and neck pain, and muscle soreness in children and teenagers. In extreme cases, they say, heavy backpacks may even contribute to scoliosis, a painful curving of the spine.

But schoolchildren say they don’t have a choice, because many don’t have lockers to store their stuff. And many bring items in their backpacks for after-school sports and child care programs.

“Backpacks are becoming a portable life support system for some of these kids,” said Terry Schroeder, a Westlake Village chiropractor. “They’re carrying everything they need for the day, and more. Kids shouldn’t carry that much weight. Their spines can’t handle it.”

Over the last few years, Schroeder and other chiropractors have seen an explosion in back problems among children, some as young as 7.

In response, medical organizations such as the American Physical Therapy Assn. and the American Chiropractic Assn. have published backpack safety tips for students and parents. Backpack manufacturers have designed new packs to distribute weight more evenly. And parents have lightened their children’s load by buying packs with extra shoulder and back support or the newest fad--the “rolly backpacks.”

During her back-to-school shopping this year, Myra Nunley bought a backpack on wheels for her son Ian, 12. Ian often carries two and three textbooks home and walks about three miles round trip to the bus stop.

But after a week at his middle school, Ian decided it wasn’t cool to roll a backpack. So he traded bags with his 9-year-old brother, Dylan, who was thrilled to get the pack on wheels.

“I was excited because I really, really wanted one,” Dylan said. “You don’t have to, like, carry it on your back. You can just pull it.”

The backpack dilemma has many sources, educators say. In recent years, many schools have eliminated lockers for fear of students stashing guns, bombs or drugs. Meanwhile, textbooks have become heavier, sometimes weighing 5 or 6 pounds each. The workload also has increased, parents say, prompting students to bring more books home each night.

Teenagers don’t help matters any. Worried about looking cool, they often sling their 30-pound packs over one shoulder or they loosen the straps so the backpacks hang low on their backs, putting too much strain on shoulders.

“Some of the sixth-graders only weigh 75 pounds,” said Anacapa Middle School Principal Dave Myers. “So with the backpacks on, they’re like turtles. If they fell over, they wouldn’t be able to get up.”

Chiropractors and pediatricians say schoolchildren should not carry more than 15% of their body weight on their backs. They also advise students to pack the heaviest items near the bottom of the pack and to wear padded straps on both shoulders.

Though the rolling backpacks aren’t too popular among older students, they are picking up steam with the younger kids.

At Poinsettia Elementary School in Ventura earlier this week, about a dozen youths rolled their backpacks across the quad, looking more like tiny flight attendants than students.

Rolling backpacks have drawbacks. Students can’t easily climb stairs with them. They can be clumsy to maneuver, and children still have to twist their backs slightly to roll them.

Principals throughout the county are trying to keep backpacks from being too much of a burden. At some schools, students are required to leave their backpacks in their lockers and carry just the books they need to each class. At others, teachers stagger homework so students have to take only one or two textbooks home each night. A few schools even issue two sets of textbooks, one for home and one for school.

Anacapa Middle School student Ronnie Peterson, 13, said he would hate to take all of his books home every night. Some of the teachers at his Ventura school give students an extra set of books for nightly homework.

“If I didn’t have an extra set of books at home, my backpack would probably weigh 30 pounds,” he said.