When I went to elementary school, I carried very little with me. Maybe a book or two, if I had homework, in my hand. Maybe my three ring binder with the little pocket in it for pencils and the like. But that was it. Most work was at school, and what there was to do at home only required the book (since, of course, we had paper and pencils at home).
It was only when I reached junior high that I found need for a backpack, since I biked there rather than walking. And that was a simple canvas bag. We had lockers to stuff stuff into.
Ditto for high school. I think I probably went to a larger, zippered bag, since I ended up for a time in a clime that had weather.
In college, again I biked a lot. I had a small zippered backpack that I used to carry the few notebooks or a text or two I needed for the classes that day. Since I lived on campus, it wasn’t that big a deal to go back to the dorm for what I needed.
I am aware that there are changes in tradition and the like over the years. For one thing, kids no longer have to engrave their homework on clay tablets with pointed sticks like I had to back in Babylonia. And I am aware that there is heightened awareness that the Humongous Backpacks sported by some kids are actually so large and heavy that they are causing back problems for the little tots.
What I don’t understand is how this translates into backpacks with wheels and handles, like luggage, for elementary school kids. I mean, big backpacks, obviously designed (Hello Kitty!) for elementary kids, being lugged around by children to elementary school.
Can someone explain this to me? What have they got in there? Why do they need something that large? Has the world gone mad? Or should I just shut up and gum my gruel?
We try to get Justin small-capacity backpacks simply because he wears them in exactly the way you’re not supposed to avoid back problems.
That’s all I have to add to this — I can’t explain the roller-bag evolution either. Maybe they’re bringing the entire Malibu Barbie Dreamhouse.
Well, of course, you have to lug your collection of 12,749 Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards to school and back every day, just in case somebody has a foil to trade.
Then there’s your Gameboy and 128 cartridges, in case nobody has any foils to trade during recess. Or class.
From what I’ve been told by my Step-Mother (doing subing for the past decade), is that the amount of homework has increased vastly since I was in school, and the the packs with wheels are to prevent back/posture problems of the humung-o-packs.
I remeber being able to do most of my homework during study period, and leaving the evening for long term projects (and gaming of course).
Yeah, Stan, but in elementary school?
Yeppers…
Over the summer she was saying that because of CSAP the home work has increased. She compared the amount of homework handed out to elementary school kids to about the same level as Middle/Jr. High School was for us.
From the sound of it, all of the stuff we used to leave in our cubbies/tray’s/desk’s at the end of the day is now hauled home every night.
Work books were so much easier. You could get them done during study period and put them in your cubbie/tray/desk and be done with them before going home.
I remember, back in the day, all that I had was my blue backpack that I hauled what little homework I had , and things that I needed to complete the homework, and that was it (well, as well as the Hobbit, and the LoTR).
If it’s such a problem, then they should have more online resources. Homework problems on the WEB or disk. At least then, there would be an easy way for Doyce to check up on Justin’s homework assignments. Wouldn’t it be great if the teacher could just post it once on the WEb and not have to right in every boys reminder list.
Unfortunately, elementary and middle school systems seem to be far behind the curve as far technology is concerned. Maybe I’m overgeneralizing, but having seen the state of technology at Jeanne’s school in Brooklyn, I’d be surprised if they could even have resources available online for children if they wanted to.
Besides, that creates a divide. What do students do if they do not have a computer or Internet access at home? Will those children have to lug all of their work home with them? Now you’ve got a totally new way for kids to ostracize each other based on the fact that the poor kids would be easily identifiable by their school luggage.
Mind you, that school luggage would make it really easy to bring in the guns when it comes time for their revenge. (Okay, time to turn the cynicism off.)
My step mother works for DPS, and it sounds as if she is computer owner in the class room.
Though that would be a great Idea, it would make it really easy for everybody involved.
I did hear a report on NPR several (say 2) years ago about a district in CA that was handing out cheap laptops to all of it’s students. The laptops came with cdrom versions of all of the books needed for the year. As well as workbooks and such. The district rep said that the laptops had been donated by a local company, and the savings from the cdroms would allow them to keep doing this program for several years.
Of course, then you get into the issue of the district having to be responsible for tech support …
The problem in our town came about when they tore out all the lockers in middle and high school. The fear was that kids would store things in there that they shouldn’t and we’d have another shooting or worse.
So, once they did that to the high school and the middle school, they moved backwards to elementary school. Can’t start too early! Carry all that stuff to and from!
My daughter is in “Pre K”. Luckily all she carries to and from is her snack.
Fred Kiesche
http://ars.userfriendly.org/users/diary.cgi?id=FredKiesche
Hmmm. I’d forgotten about lockers. Yes, I heard they’d all been torn out, since, obviously, it’s easier to search backpacks than lockers.
Still. Goofy.