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
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1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Overloaded school backpacks are causing | ||||||
3 | increasing problems of back
pain and spinal strain for students | ||||||
4 | across the nation; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Because spinal ligaments and muscles are not fully | ||||||
6 | developed until after
age 16, overweight backpacks are a cause | ||||||
7 | of repeated low-level stress that may result in
chronic neck, | ||||||
8 | shoulder, or back pain in children; and
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9 | WHEREAS, According to the United States Consumer Product | ||||||
10 | Safety Commission, more than
7,000 emergency room visits each | ||||||
11 | year are due to backpack-related injuries; in 2010 alone,
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12 | doctor offices, clinics, and hospital emergency rooms treated | ||||||
13 | nearly 28,000 strains,
sprains, dislocations, and fractures | ||||||
14 | from backpacks; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Studies have shown heavy loads carried on the back | ||||||
16 | have the potential to
damage the soft tissues of the shoulder, | ||||||
17 | causing microstructural damage to the nerves and
damage to | ||||||
18 | internal organs; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Studies have shown an increase in curvatures of | ||||||
20 | the spine and compressed
intervertebral height when backpacks | ||||||
21 | exceed 10% of the body weight of a child; and
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1 | WHEREAS, The Global Burden of Disease Study of 2010 showed | ||||||
2 | back pain as the
number one cause of disability worldwide and | ||||||
3 | musculoskeletal disorders as the second cause; and
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4 | WHEREAS, School textbooks are much heavier now than many | ||||||
5 | years ago; in
addition to textbooks, students often carry | ||||||
6 | computers, cell phones, water bottles, running shoes,
band | ||||||
7 | instruments, and other equipment considered essential to have | ||||||
8 | readily available; and
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9 | WHEREAS, More than 90% of students carry backpacks, which | ||||||
10 | have been found to weigh as much as 25% of the child's body | ||||||
11 | weight; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Backpacks are often not worn correctly - often | ||||||
13 | slung over one shoulder or
allowed to hang significantly below | ||||||
14 | the waistline, increasing the weight on the shoulders and
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15 | making the child lean forward when walking or stoop forward | ||||||
16 | when standing to compensate for
the weight; therefore, be it
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17 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
18 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE | ||||||
19 | CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge that all school administrators, | ||||||
20 | teachers, parents, and students be educated about the potential | ||||||
21 | health impact of heavy backpacks and take proactive measures to |
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1 | avoid injury; and be it further
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2 | RESOLVED, That Doctors of Chiropractic be permitted to | ||||||
3 | conduct
mandatory interval scoliosis examinations on children; | ||||||
4 | and be it further
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5 | RESOLVED, That schools should work with their | ||||||
6 | Parent-Teacher Associations and Parent-Teacher Organizations | ||||||
7 | to assess
the extent to which students use overweight backpacks | ||||||
8 | and to promote innovative homework
strategies, lessening the | ||||||
9 | need to take all school materials and books back and forth each | ||||||
10 | day; and be it further
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11 | RESOLVED, That schools should consider the following | ||||||
12 | points when
developing their backpack education talking | ||||||
13 | points:
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14 | (1) Backpacks should weigh no more than a maximum of | ||||||
15 | 10% of the body weight of the child;
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16 | (2)
Encourage ergonomic backpacks with individualized | ||||||
17 | compartments to
efficiently hold books and equipment;
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18 | (3) Encourage children to wear both shoulder straps and | ||||||
19 | not sling the backpack
over one shoulder;
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1 | (4) Encourage wide, padded adjustable straps to fit the | ||||||
2 | body of the child;
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3 | (5)
Encourage the heaviest books be left at school and | ||||||
4 | handouts or workbooks
be used for homework assignments;
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5 | (6) Schools should consider moving toward e-textbooks | ||||||
6 | as federal and State
funding becomes available; and
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7 | (7)
Schools should consider integrated education about | ||||||
8 | backpacks by using a
hanging scale in the classroom, | ||||||
9 | allowing students to weigh their backpacks
and enter the | ||||||
10 | results into a graph that would track the weights, and then | ||||||
11 | look
at the data to determine what can be done to lighten | ||||||
12 | loads; and be it further
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13 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
14 | delivered to State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Smith.
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