BILL NUMBER: SCR 86	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 19, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 21, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hueso

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   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 
 pupils  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  disk  
disc  height and damage the soft tissues of the shoulder causing
microstructural damage to the nerves; and
   WHEREAS,  Students'   Pupils'  textbooks
are much heavier now than many years ago and, in addition to
textbooks,  students   pupils  often carry
computers, cell phones, water bottles, running shoes, band
instruments, and other equipment considered essential to have readily
available; and
   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
   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
  pupils  use overweight backpacks and to promote
innovative homework strategies that lessen the need for 
students   pupils  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' 
 pupils   '  use of backpacks:
   (a) Discourage  students   pupils  from
carrying a backpack that weighs more than 10 percent of a 
student's   pupil   's  body weight.
   (b) Encourage the use of ergonomic backpacks with individualized
compartments to efficiently hold books and equipment.
   (c) Encourage  students   pupils  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  pupil   's
 body.
   (e) Encourage  students   pupils  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   pupils  integrated
education about backpacks by using a hanging scale in the classroom
to allow  students   pupils  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
  pupil'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.