Amended in Senate May 21, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 86

Introduced by Senator Hueso

February 21, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 86—Relative to heavy school backpacks.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 86, as amended, Hueso. Heavy school backpacks.

This measure would acknowledge the health risks that heavy backpacks pose to schoolchildren and recommend certain measures to be taken in that regard to avoid injury.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Overloaded school backpacks are causing an
increasing problem of back pain and spinal strain in students in
elementary and secondary schools across the nation; and

WHEREAS, Because spinal ligaments and muscles are not fully
developed until after 16 years of age, overweight backpacks are a
source of repeated low-level stress that may result in chronic neck,
shoulder, or back pain in children; and

WHEREAS, Reviews of data have revealed over 7,000
emergency room visits, and over 28,000 doctor’s office visits, per
year by children for backpack-related injuries; and

WHEREAS, Studies of the effects on children of carrying heavy
backpacks have shown that heavy loads carried on the back have
the potential to compress intervertebral begin delete disc end delete begin insert disk end insert height and damage
the soft tissues of the shoulder causing microstructural damage to
the nerves; and

WHEREAS, Students’ textbooks are much heavier now than
many years ago and, in addition to textbooks, students often carry
computers, cell phones, water bottles, running shoes, band
instruments, and other equipment considered essential to have
readily available; and

begin insert

WHEREAS, The State Board of Education, pursuant to Assembly
Bill No. 2532 (Chapter 1096 of the Statutes of 2002), adopted
maximum weight standards for textbooks, and required textbook
publishers to submit lightweight alternatives to print materials;
and

end insert

WHEREAS, More than 90 percent of children carry a school
backpack, which studies have found to weigh as much as 25 percent
of the child’s body weight; and

WHEREAS, Backpacks are often not worn correctly and are
frequently slung over one shoulder or allowed to hang significantly
below the waistline, increasing the weight on the shoulders and
causing the child to lean forward when walking or standing to
compensate for the weight; and

WHEREAS, Rolling backpacks remove the weight from a
child’s back, but are sometimes not allowed in schools due to a
concern over being a trip hazard in the hallways or because of the
difficulty of carrying them up and down stairways; now, therefore,
be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature strongly recommends that
all school administrators, teachers, parents, and school children
be educated about the potential health impacts of heavy backpacks
and take proactive measures to avoid injury; and be it further

Resolved, That schools should work with parent-teacher
organizations to assess the extent to which their students use
overweight backpacks and to promote innovative homework
strategies that lessen the need for students to take school materials
and books from school to home each day; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature urges schools to do the following
when developing their guidelines for students’ use of backpacks:

(a) Discourage students from carrying a backpack that weighs
more than 10 percent of a student’s body weight.

(b) Encourage the use of ergonomic backpacks with
individualized compartments to efficiently hold books and
equipment.

(c) Encourage students to wear both shoulder straps and not
sling a backpack over one shoulder.

(d) Encourage the use of wide, padded, adjustable backpack
straps that fit the student’s body.

(e) Encourage students to leave the heaviest books at school,
and urge teachers to give handouts or workbooks that can be used
for homework assignments.

(f) Encourage schools to make electronic versions of textbooks
available, as federal and state funding for that purpose becomes
available.

(g) Offer students integrated education about backpacks by
using a hanging scale in the classroom to allow students to weigh
their backpacks and enter the weight into a graph that would track
the weights and use the data to determine whether a student’s
backpack is too heavy, and provide information about ways to
lighten the weight of a backpack; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.