Bill Text: NJ SR67 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges school administrators, teachers, parents, and students to be better educated about potential health impacts of heavy backpacks and take proactive measures to avoid injury.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-01-31 - Filed with Secretary of State [SR67 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-SR67-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Urges school administrators, teachers, parents, and students to be better educated about potential health impacts of heavy backpacks and take proactive measures to avoid injury.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution urging school administrators, teachers, parents, and students to be better educated about the potential health impact of heavy backpacks and to take proactive measures to avoid injury.
Whereas, Backpacks of elementary and secondary school students often contain textbooks, binders, calculators, personal computers, lunches, a change of clothing, sports equipment, and more; and
Whereas, More than 90 percent of students carry backpacks, which in studies have been found to weigh as much as 25 percent of the child's body weight; and
Whereas, Overloaded school backpacks are causing an increasing problem of back pain and spinal strain for students; and
Whereas, Because spinal ligaments and muscles are not fully developed until after age 16, overweight backpacks are a source of repeated low-level stress that may result in chronic neck, shoulder, or back pain in children; and
Whereas, According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, over 7,000 emergency room visits each year are due to backpack-related injuries. In 2010 alone, physicians' offices, clinics, and hospital emergency rooms treated nearly 28,000 strains, sprains, dislocations, and fractures from backpacks; and
Whereas, Studies have shown an increase in curvatures of the spine and compressed intervertebral height when backpacks exceed ten percent of a child's body weight; and
Whereas, The Global Burden of Disease Study of 2010 showed back pain as the number one cause of disability worldwide and musculoskeletal disorders as the second cause; and
Whereas, Backpacks are often not worn correctly, often slung over one shoulder or allowed to hang significantly below a student's waistline, increasing the weight on the shoulders and making the child lean forward when walking or stoop forward when standing to compensate for the weight; and
Whereas, In order to promote backpack safety, schools should consider measures such as: switching to electronic textbooks; encouraging that the heaviest textbooks be left at school and handouts or workbooks be used for homework assignments; encouraging the use of ergonomic backpacks; and encouraging the use of wide, padded adjustable straps to fit a child's body; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. School administrators,
teachers, parents, and students are strongly urged to be better educated about
the potential health impact of heavy backpacks and to take proactive measures
to avoid student injury.
2. Schools are encouraged to work with their parent-teacher associations to assess the extent to which students use overweight backpacks and promote innovative homework strategies that lessen the need to take all school materials and books back and forth each day.
3. Students are encouraged to use ergonomic backpacks with individualized compartments to efficiently hold books and equipment and to wear both shoulder straps and not sling the backpack over one shoulder.
4. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Commissioner of Education, who shall distribute the resolution to all school districts in the State.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges school administrators, teachers, parents, and students to be better educated about the potential health impacts of heavy backpacks and to take proactive measures to avoid student injury.
Elementary and secondary school students often carry textbooks, binders, calculators, personal computers, lunches, a change of clothing, sports equipment, and other items for school, all of which cause backpacks to weigh as much as 25 percent of the child's body weight. These overloaded backpacks are causing an increasing problem of back pain and spinal strain for students. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, over 7,000 emergency room visits each year are due to backpack-related injuries. In 2010 alone, physicians' offices, clinics, and hospital emergency rooms treated nearly 28,000 strains, sprains, dislocations, and fractures from backpacks.
In order to promote backpack safety and lessen back and shoulder injuries, schools should consider measures such as: switching to electronic textbooks; encouraging that the heaviest textbooks be left at school and handouts or workbooks be used for homework assignments; encouraging the use of ergonomic backpacks; and encouraging the use of wide, padded adjustable straps to fit a child's body.
