I see from the news that there's concern about young students carrying heavy backpacks. I went to school 30 years ago and we never used backpacks or even a book bag. What do they carry in them that's so heavy?

Books, calculators, cell phones and other electronic devices, sports equipment, water bottles, and other personal items. That's probably just a partial list of what most students haul around with them everyday.

Time is limited between classes so to avoid going back to the locker on the other side of the building, students just carry all their books with them for the morning. At lunch, they trade for the afternoon books. With homework in every subject, they may end up taking all their books home on any given night.

The amount of information available today is definitely on the rise. Textbooks reflect the information glut by being much thicker and heavier. Sometimes more than one book is
required for a course. All of this adds up to a pretty hefty weight even for some young students.