36. Nowadays most students have a heavy school bag on their backs on their way to school or on their way home after school. Not only the students in China have this problem, but the children in the United States (1)a
have the problem of heavy school bags.
Doctors are starting to worry that younger and younger students are having back and neck problems as a result of school bags being too heavy for them.
"It's (2)h
for me to go upstairs with my school bag because it's so heavy." said Rick Hammond, an eleven-year-old student in the US. His (3)f
is on the sixth floor.
Rick is among the students who have common school bags with two straps (背带) to carry them, but many other students (4)c
rolling bags. But even with rolling bags, getting upstairs and on buses is still a problem for children. Many of them have hurt their backs and necks because of the heavy school bags.
But how much is too much?Doctors say students should carry no more than 10% to 15% of their own body weight.
Scott Bautch, a back doctor, said children (5)u
Grade 4 should stay with 10%. But it is important that older kids don't go beyond 15% because their bodies are still growing. Bautch said that there are other injuries caused by backpacks. "Children are losing their balance (失去平衡) and (6)f
down with theses school bags," he said.
Parents and teachers are starting to tell children to only take books home that they reading that night. Some teachers are using worksheets (7)o
thin workbooks for students to take home. One of the best answer is, as some children said, to have no homework at all.