Heavy on the tender minds

Arnab Ganguly / TNN / Feb 25, 2007, 21:32 IST

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Psychologists have found that the burden of schoolbags could be crushing children's spirit and turning them into difficult devils.

KOLKATA: If it breaks your heart to see eight-nine year olds lugging heavy knapsacks to school, think of the damage the bone-crushing ordeal does to their tender minds. Psychologists have found in recent studies that the burden of schoolbags could be crushing their spirit and turning them into either difficult devils or silent sufferers.
Seven-year old Nishka Ahluwalia goes to school in a car.From the school gate she has to carry a 7-kg bag all the way to the classroom and back. Nishka is not the only child who's forced out of bed, hurried through the morning rituals and breakfast, put on the car and rushed to school - all the while lugging a backpack that weighs a third her weight.
"It's a huge problem. If a child is constantly burdened this way, he is bound to get rebellious some time. Gradually he won't like to go to school and the bag becomes a symbol of oppression. Some children who cannot bear this stress develop behavioural abnormalities," says Ranjit Basu, director Institute of Bio-behavioural Sciences.
Psychologists have found a disturbing trend of such children developing attention deficiency disorder or opposition defying disorder. Which, in turn, makes them labelled as 'problem children'? In some cases there is a helpless surrender to the situation which has an equally bad affect.

"We have observed that children get used to the idea they have to carry huge loads on their back all their life. This is what we call conditioning. A child may feel there is no way out of this situation," warns psychologist Shubhra Chunder. "This is not positive and steps should be taken to make the child come out of this condition."
A recent orthopaedic study indicates that five minutes of carrying a bag which weighs around 10% of the child's bodyweight can lead to structural changes in the spine and make shoulders sag.

The American Physical Therapy Association did a recent study on schoolbags showing that 50% of such kids had chronic pain and fatigue. In Kolkata, backpacks have been found to be 15% to even 50% of the child's body weight. A typical schoolbag at the middle-school level would weigh around 5-7 kg (at least 15 textbooks and exercise books).
Now consider the damages. The weight can alter gait, leading to bad posture in the growing period. In extreme cases, it can cause dizziness, chest pain and even vocal disorders.
It does not help a child's growth if the parents carry their bags. "They grow accustomed to the idea that there is someone else to do their work. This is a not a very good lesson for the child," said Sanchita Banerjee, psychologist.
NCERT has been trying to find a solution to the problem since 1990 and CBSE has only now come out with a no-bag policy for primary school children. Psychologists say much more needs to be done. And fast. The burden of schoolbags is not only damaging the spine and bones, but the minds of children as well.

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