Bill Text: IL HJR0038 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Urges that all school administrators, teachers, parents, and students be educated about the potential health impact of heavy backpacks and take proactive measures to avoid injury.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-11 - Resolution Adopted [HJR0038 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HJR0038-Introduced.html

---

HJ0038 LRB100 11671 MST 22569 r
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Overloaded school backpacks are causing
increasing problems of back pain and spinal strain for students
across the nation; and
WHEREAS, Because spinal ligaments and muscles are not fully
developed until after age 16, overweight backpacks are a cause
of repeated low-level stress that may result in chronic neck,
shoulder, or back pain in children; and
WHEREAS, According to the United States Consumer Product
Safety Commission, more than 7,000 emergency room visits each
year are due to backpack-related injuries; in 2010 alone,
doctor offices, clinics, and hospital emergency rooms treated
nearly 28,000 strains, sprains, dislocations, and fractures
from backpacks; and
WHEREAS, Studies have shown heavy loads carried on the back
have the potential to damage the soft tissues of the shoulder,
causing microstructural damage to the nerves and damage to
internal organs; and
WHEREAS, Studies have shown an increase in curvatures of
the spine and compressed intervertebral height when backpacks
exceed 10% of the body weight of a child; and

HJ0038 - 2 - LRB100 11671 MST 22569 r
WHEREAS, The Global Burden of Disease Study of 2010 showed
back pain as the number one cause of disability worldwide and
musculoskeletal disorders as the second cause; and
WHEREAS, School textbooks are much heavier now than many
years ago; in addition to textbooks, students often carry
computers, cell phones, water bottles, running shoes, band
instruments, and other equipment considered essential to have
readily available; and
WHEREAS, More than 90% of students carry backpacks, which
have been found to weigh as much as 25% of the child's body
weight; and
WHEREAS, Backpacks are often not worn correctly - often
slung over one shoulder or allowed to hang significantly below
the waistline, increasing the weight on the shoulders and
making the child lean forward when walking or stoop forward
when standing to compensate for the weight; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE
CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge that all school administrators,
teachers, parents, and students be educated about the potential
health impact of heavy backpacks and take proactive measures to

HJ0038 - 3 - LRB100 11671 MST 22569 r
avoid injury; and be it further
RESOLVED, That Doctors of Chiropractic be permitted to
conduct mandatory interval scoliosis examinations on children;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That schools should work with their
Parent-Teacher Associations and Parent-Teacher Organizations
to assess the extent to which students use overweight backpacks
and to promote innovative homework strategies, lessening the
need to take all school materials and books back and forth each
day; and be it further
RESOLVED, That schools should consider the following
points when developing their backpack education talking
points:
(1) Backpacks should weigh no more than a maximum of
10% of the body weight of the child;
(2) Encourage ergonomic backpacks with individualized
compartments to efficiently hold books and equipment;
(3) Encourage children to wear both shoulder straps and
not sling the backpack over one shoulder;

HJ0038 - 4 - LRB100 11671 MST 22569 r
(4) Encourage wide, padded adjustable straps to fit the
body of the child;
(5) Encourage the heaviest books be left at school and
handouts or workbooks be used for homework assignments;
(6) Schools should consider moving toward e-textbooks
as federal and State funding becomes available; and
(7) Schools should consider integrated education about
backpacks by using a hanging scale in the classroom,
allowing students to weigh their backpacks and enter the
results into a graph that would track the weights, and then
look at the data to determine what can be done to lighten
loads; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
delivered to State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Smith.