Why Students Shouldn’t have Backpacks in Classrooms

Having your backpack in class sounds so easy, doesn’t it? I can agree on the fact that they may be easier so you can manage your school supplies and time at once. However, having a backpack all day at school poses more risks than you think.

For example, having backpacks all day affects your health. A study in 2011 using MRI technology documented how students' spines were changed based on backpack and child weights. Multiple notebooks and binders can weigh down your bag. Personally, last year during Pleasant Valleys hybrid period, my backpack weighed 23 pounds. Carrying a backpack that heavy all day can alter key spinal measurements and cause future health problems. Heavy bags can also tip you backwards and create neck issues after being on for too long. All of these problems can originate by just walking in the hallway on the way to class.

Another problem backpacks can lead to is further increase of illegal items inside schools. Students smuggle their contraband into school through their backpacks. So by keeping them with you all the time could make students feel unsafe and actually not be safe. Anyone could bring a gun to school and have it on them all day. That student could shoot anyone at any given moment and create a harmful environment and could seed trust issues and other mental health problems in students. Backpacks in class could also further drug use at school and could ultimately ruin lives before they even start.