Senate bill seeks to ban 'overloading' of school bags

Senator Lito Lapid has filed a bill that would limit the weight of bags being carried by children to school, pointing out that 'overloaded' school bags are harmful to the students' health and their education. In filing Senate Bill 2179, Lapid noted that the heavy weight of school bags is harmful to the body of the students. "At a glimpse, it seems this practice is good to schoolchildren (but) overloading of school bags can cause side effect to the body of the children... since spinal ligaments and muscles are not fully developed until after 16 years of life," Lapid said in his bill. Citing data from the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Free State, he said children who carry heavy bags everyday might have trouble maintaining proper standing posture and might even experience back pains and spinal complications. He said carrying such heavy loads might also cause "chronic, low-level trauma" which can result in chronic shoulder, neck, and back pain for the children. "Education is futile if the frail bodies of children are compromised... having pupils carry heavy load to school will be counter-productive, with many of them physically deformed as adults," he said. Lapid said the measure aims to inform school administrators, teachers, parents, and school children of this "unhealthful practice." The proposal was forwarded to the committees on finance; arts and culture; and health and demography last week. Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, however, said that there was no need for a law or a memorandum that would limit the weight of school bags. He said school officials can just look into the issue themselves. But Lapid maintained that his proposal was just a suggestion. — Kimberly Tan/RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV