State (Tennessee) may lighten students' textbook load

[Ediacara]

State may lighten students' textbook load


SHELLEY MAYS / STAFF Grassland Middle
School sixth-graders Molly Scott, right,
and Brittney Harrison wait in the pickup
line after school with their backpacks
full of books.

By CLAUDETTE RILEY
Staff Writer

Carly Joseph rarely carried more than textbooks and a binder in her school backpack. But, by the middle of last year, it became far too hefty for her slender frame.

''Mine was heavy. I started having back problems,'' said Carly, 14.

The Grassland Middle School eighth-grader changed her style of backpack but couldn't do anything about the weight of her textbooks.

''We have to take our books home to do homework. I was carrying too many,'' she said. ''You can see in the hallways where backpacks are ripped open from the books falling out.''

Carly is hardly alone. Students and parents across the state have complained about the high weight of textbooks and backpacks. And lawmakers are listening.

More at the Nashville Tennessean

[silverpatronus]

1. we've had this problem in the caribbean for years...

too many books and the books are too heavy. it's what started the 'wheelie backpack' movement down here. primary school kids with bags bigger than them. innumerable spinal problems reported because these kids simply have too much to lug around. but what can we do about it? we have to learn, and we need our textbooks to study and do homework from. and given the sheer size of the CXC/O-level (high school leaving exams) and A-level (uni entrance exams) syllabuses, the textbooks HAVE to be huge.

[booksenkatz]

2. This is pathetic

''We do encourage students not to take a textbook home unless they have an assignment.''
God forbid a child might have some curiosity about a subject and want to read about it outside of class...?

I'm a bibliophile, and no CD/computer reading experience can compare with the feel of being curled up with a book. I always found a way to get my books home, so I can't cry for anyone in this article. Maybe they could get up off their butts and do some exercise and strengthen their back muscles instead of IMing all night long.

And 12-year-old Jamie says rolling backpacks are "not cool" and cause people to trip in the hallways. Has Jamie ever been to an airport? I don't see travelers tripping all over the concourse, do you? It's pretty damned expedient, and saves your back. Grow up.

[Bandit]

3. Paperback books would help tremendously

They don't have to be hardback. In College most textbooks are paperback and people manage just fine.

[Ediacara]

4. PLUS

Paperbacks are normally about 1/2 to 2/3 the price of hardcover books, reducing the financial burden on the district.

BUT grade school kids are uh.... no friend to books, and I fear that paperbacks would be destroyed MUCH faster than 1/2 to 2/3 the time it takes to destroy a hardcover book.

My Jr High and High School even required that we construct book covers out of heavy brown paper. The in and out of the bag every day often ruined the book covers, and they had to be replaced pretty often :-(

[leftistagitator]

5. They could just do what they do in college

Alternate days for the class schedule and have longer periods. That way they cut the book wieght in half, and prepare them for the future. Rolling backbacks? If you have to use a damn dolly to care your books around the school fucked up somewhere.

[Ellen Forradalom]

6. What is the point of bringing ALL the books to school EVERY day?

Can't some of the heavy books stay home a few times a week? The books can be read at home, and discussed at school.

[SharonAnn]

7. In this part of Tennessee, the middle school students don't have

to worry about that. There aren't enough books to go around and so there's only one set to be used in the classroom. The students can't take them home because there aren't enough for every student.