Students enter classrooms with learning interests but bring a substantial amount of pressure along with them. The beginning of my days requires carrying several textbooks, notebooks, water bottles, and lunch packs into my backpack. I feel exhausted when arriving at school since carting my school textbooks causes shoulder pain through the day. All students bearing comparable circumstances encounter this identically stressful condition.
The actual weight is generating pain that exceeds our perception. The act of carrying books indicates a meaning broader than physically transporting books throughout the day. The development stage of our bones stays active while our bodies continue to grow since infancy. Young students frequently develop back and neck pains due to improper growth when they carry school backpacks that weigh between five to eight kilograms each day. Teenage years fail to protect my companions from both exhaustion and back pain. School becomes unenjoyable for students because their daily commute requires intense labor.
Our parents suffer too
It’s not just us students. The weight of our school bags prompts our parents to confiscate them both when we get too tired or when the weight becomes unacceptable. Witnessing my mother endure the burden of bringing my schoolbag during morning drop-offs became a persistent problem because she always offers help without any delay. We grow more emotionally troubled when we witness our parents face hardship. The educational policies have stripped our family members of their power to safeguard our safety despite their genuine concern.
Our country stands behind all other countries regarding the standards of schoolbags
Students in most countries should not handle such heavy loads in their backpacks. The schoolchildren depicted in these videos carry only one school notebook together with a small tablet to their educational institution. The students in this environment store their belongings in lockers while using electronic boards, and their teachers give out printed material rather than requiring heavy textbooks. The present-day educational model works toward relieving student difficulties instead of creating more complications.
A feeling of hopelessness occupies our hearts
The everyday fatigue suffered by people creates mental fatigue as its primary effect. Pupils lose their interest in all school events. Students question themselves about the existence of any underlying cause behind their academic struggles. The lack of optimism starts developing within students at this stage. Students lose their motivation because of the combination of demanding education and extreme pressure.
The community can benefit from various tested solutions that assist its members
The solution demands collaboration from every member of society, beginning with students together with their parents and continuing to teaching staff. Dogfooding three simple methods for school improvement creates better educational circumstances for everyone.
Every student requires a single standard notebook rather than several separate books since educational facilities should supply big, subject-divided notebooks. Our book weight decreases to one or two books per day through using consolidated notebooks.
The lecture sheets should be available to students who need book summaries through teaching staff assistance. The solution enables students to carry a single notebook, which replaces heavy textbooks because it provides organised subject sections within the notebook.
Educational institutions should establish lockers with personal compartments so students can keep their books in the school building before taking essential items back home.
Both tablet distribution and digital book access eliminate student physical book requirements at schools. This practice will save money throughout all years of operation.
The school needs to establish a system for letting students use their bags on particular dates for schoolwork. Students follow a day-by-day pattern of bringing Science books on Mondays and Math materials on Tuesdays and so on throughout the week while carrying only needed textbooks based on daily subjects.
Parents need to take action at school meetings and teachers should immediately lower their book requirements at these events. When all members work together a new set of conditions can emerge simultaneously.
Let’s make it better together
Students who belong to the next generation presently endure physical discomfort because of the heavy weights they carry each day. Adult authorities should understand how school pupils endure back pain as their minds grow tired and they become less interested in academic work. Our extreme bag weight causes us either to achieve improved work or simply survive daily burdens.
We students face regular deterioration in our physical health and developmental delays because of our overloaded bags, which also produce learning obstacles. Additional pressure affects both our families as well as our parents due to these heavy bags. Students from most nations do not experience the same level of academic challenges that South Korean students face when it comes to attending school. Multiple health concerns emerge because of these overweight bags since they cause back problems and poor posture while leading to fatigue that might potentially become serious diseases.
But we can fix this. The combination of combined notebooks with lecture sheets and school lockers and tablets and smart subject schedules effectively reduces student backpack weight. Educational facilities can establish healthier and happier arenas through the backing of teachers and their family communities. Education aims to foster student growth, so students need immediate weight reduction in their academic obligations.
Najiha Mamun is a high school student at Summerfield International School (SFIS), Dhaka. Reach her at [email protected].