Amended in Assembly June 19, 2014

Amended in Senate May 21, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 86

Introduced by Senator Hueso

February 21, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 86—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 begin delete students end delete begin insert pupils end insert
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 begin delete disk end delete begin insert disc end insert height and damage
the soft tissues of the shoulder causing microstructural damage to
the nerves; and

WHEREAS, begin delete Students’ end delete begin insert Pupils’ end insert textbooks are much heavier now
than many years ago and, in addition to textbooks, begin delete students end delete begin insert pupils end insert
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 begin delete No. end delete 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 begin delete students end delete begin insert pupils end insert
use overweight backpacks and to promote innovative homework
strategies that lessen the need for begin delete students end delete begin insert pupils end insert 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 begin delete students’ end delete begin insert pupils end insert begin insert ’ end insert use of
backpacks:

(a) Discourage begin delete students end delete begin insert pupils end insert from carrying a backpack that
weighs more than 10 percent of a begin delete student’s end delete begin insert pupil end insert begin insert ’s end insert body weight.

(b) Encourage the use of ergonomic backpacks with
individualized compartments to efficiently hold books and
equipment.

(c) Encourage begin delete students end delete begin insert pupils end insert 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 begin delete student’s end delete begin insert pupil end insert begin insert ’s end insert body.

(e) Encourage begin delete students end delete begin insert pupils end insert 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 begin delete students end delete begin insert pupils end insert integrated education about backpacks
by using a hanging scale in the classroom to allow begin delete students end delete begin insert pupils end insert
to weigh their backpacks and enter the weight into a graph that
would track the weights and use the data to determine whether a
begin delete student’s end delete begin insert pupil’s end insert 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.