Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511140006
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH COX SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Those backpacks weigh a ton, too. Well, almost a ton. At Herman L. Horn Elementary School in Roanoke County, fourth-grader Kyndal Spradlin weighs 53 pounds and carries a backpack weighing 18 pounds, which equals 34 percent of her body weight.
Her friend, Brittany Leftwich, a petite 52-pound fourth-grader, trudges home with a 10-pound backpack. Of course, the six paperback books, mashed eraser, candy - and more candy! - and a very flat chocolate cupcake didn't help, either.
There seems to be an art to picking and packing backpacks.
Chris Crotts, a fifth-grader at G.W. Carver Elementary School in Salem, said he bought his Jansport pack because it has a lot of space, with a good place for carrying money.
"I take peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and they get squished really early,'' Chris said. So he carries his lunch box and only in the afternoons does he pack it in his backpack.
Chris said he also likes the canvas material of his pack, instead of "that plastic junk," found on some other models.
Spradlin also carries a Jansport, hers a navy and green plaid. She bought it because "I like this plaid,'' she said.
Tara Hutcheson, a sixth-grader at James Madison Middle School in Roanoke, admitted that backpack style is an issue with some, but "I don't care about it, as long as I have one,'' she said.
Jason Bennett in fourth grade at Roanoke's Fairview Elementary School said the same thing. "Actually, as long as you have some kind of backpack, it doesn't matter what kind it is.''
Bennett said he carries home about six books every night, and does one to two hours of homework daily. How does he manage this heavy load? Over one shoulder, he said.
Most everyone, it seems, carries backpacks the same way, especially walking into school. The important thing is comfort. Experts say it's a good idea to make sure your backpack's straps are padded and the weight is distributed evenly.
Dr. Douglas Althouse, a Roanoke pediatrician, has four children of his own, and he marvels at how heavy their backpacks seem.
"Sometimes I wonder why they bring home every book in every class,'' he said, but he's never treated a case of back strain due to an overly heavy backpack.
Diane Washenberger, G.W. Carver's principal, said she doesn't like to pick up her three children's backpacks, "because they're pretty heavy. They're like carrying bricks,'' she said.
Backpacks may not cause sore back muscles, but they are responsible for other kinds of injuries. Bennett, who said he attended Grandin Court Elementary School in Roanoke before transferring to Fairview, recalls a backpack-related injury at his first school. "A kid was slinging his backpack around, and hit a boy with it and hurt him real bad. It gave him a big knot on his head,'' he said.
Stephen Mabry, vice-principal at James Madison Middle School, said he gets hit regularly with backpacks as he holds the school door open for students in the morning.
"A student will turn around suddenly and the next thing you know, you've got 50 pounds of books in your side,'' he said. This is not unusual, but it's the very reason that many area school districts give schools the option of requiring their middle school students to stash backpacks in lockers.
David Partington, director of Secondary Education for Roanoke schools, explained that keeping backpacks out of the classroom is a safety issue. If the packs are on the floor in the aisle, it's hard for pupils to get up quickly and exit a classroom during a fire drill.
If a child hangs his or her backpack on the back of the chair, then gets up, the chair falls backward. And teachers can't walk up and down the crowded aisles to check on pupils'' work, either. Even in science lab things get out of hand when backpacks are swung and glass beakers go flying.
Elementary schools don't usually have this problem, because there are not as many pupils and the pupils don't change classes as often. They store their backpacks on hooks in the hallway, classroom wall or closet.
Partington added that although Roanoke schools haven't had to face the issue of guns or knives being carried into the classroom in backpacks, other school districts have, and keeping backpacks in lockers is one way of solving that problem.
Paul Kendrick, principal of Addison Middle School in Roanoke, told Partington that he faced that issue in a Northern Virginia school before moving to Roanoke.
But mostly, it's a matter of avoiding the "rather large appendage attached to their backs,'' said Mabry. After all, managing to gracefully swing an 18-pound backpack and avoid smooshing your Little Debbie snack cake can be pretty difficult. All this while stylishly slinging the pack from one shoulder. It's a hard job, but every pupil has to do it.
by CNB