BILL NUMBER: SCR 86	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  100
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  AUGUST 7, 2014
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 4, 2014
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 26, 2014
	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, 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.



   WHEREAS, Overloaded school backpacks are causing an increasing
problem of back pain and spinal strain in 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 disc height and damage the soft
tissues of the shoulder causing microstructural damage to the nerves;
and
   WHEREAS, Pupils' textbooks are much heavier now than many years
ago and, in addition to textbooks, 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
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 pupils use
overweight backpacks and to promote innovative homework strategies
that lessen the need for 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 pupils' use of backpacks:
   (a) Discourage pupils from carrying a backpack that weighs more
than 10 percent of a pupil's body weight.
   (b) Encourage the use of ergonomic backpacks with individualized
compartments to efficiently hold books and equipment.
   (c) Encourage 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 pupil's body.
   (e) Encourage 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 pupils integrated education about backpacks by using a
hanging scale in the classroom to allow 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 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.