Having to haul around a backpack that weighs no less than 50 lbs.

Apparently the old timers on this list either weren't assigned homework, or else just didn't do it. From about 2nd grade on, I had homework due the next day in almost every subject, with an occasional break in one or two subjects. That meant lugging around between 5 and 8 textbooks with corresponding notebooks every day. It didn't bother me that much, but I did have a heavy backpack most days, and it was not a choice, unless you consider failing to be a reasonable choice.

This backpack thing is hilarious. In the 1950's you wouldn't have dared to have a backpack. You would have been humiliated beyond repair, got the sh*t beat out of you, shunned as a fruit or all of the above. When you walked you carried your books at your side. Using a briefcase was also spooky. I can't remember seeing a backpack, but I remember a few briefcase types. They were hopeless.

You often carried one of those zipper portfolios where you carried your small items and paper.  The books were piled on top of that.

Having seen the insides of my kids backpacks on more than one occasion, a good part of that 50 pounds has little to do with their textbooks and homework. My older son used to carry about 50 CDs with him, and my daughter used to carry three or four changes of clothes. 

And as to "having to..." its not a have to, its a want to.  Carrying a backpack is part of the "uniform" these days.

A little work out to and from school never hurts.

I have one child in HS and one in middle school and their backpacks are ridiculously large and heavy.  When I try to get them to trim anything, they insist their teachers require them to have all the work they did all semester with them every week.  Combine this with a band instrument and my 11 year old looks pretty well laden when he walks to school.  The size of schools is at least one factor here.  As pointed out by other posters, if your locker is not centrally located it may not be possible to get there and to your next class in time.  My HS, with 1000 kids, was no problem.  My son's school, with 3500 students, problem.  

I would think by now we would be using technology to reduce the load by making text books and school work electronic.  Either you log onto the mainframe at each class (and from home for homework) and call up material or carry it around in portable media.  But maybe I am underestimating the penetration of the PC and internet access into the general population. 

I do believe that large backpacks (the same with large purses) has got a great deal to do with bad backs.

..and the point isssssssssssss??????????...sorry not buying this one.  People who usually had big back packs had so much information to input into their brains they were the ones who usually passed all their exams and tests and most importantly had the last laugh compared to those who strolled through the hallways with just a pen.

I think my biology textbook weighed the 50 pounds all by itself. And what did I learn from it all year? That I SUCK at Biology!

Actually, mine only weighed about 1.25lbs...the exact weight of a pack of smokes, flask of lemon gin (dry, of course), a pinch hitter and an excersise book of cheat notes...it actually took me six semesters to understand what they meant by "book" bag.

We're not even allowed to carry backpacks around, we carry all our books in our hands because there's "not enough room in the halls" which is true. 3 minute passing periods and TRaFFIC JAmS means carrying all my books for the whole day. My neck always hurts, i'm only 13!

Big pain especially since, up until about middle school, the bag was pretty much guaranteed to weigh as much as I did. Can't help it I'm small...

Teachers just add to this by not letting you keep your books in the room, you HAVE to carry it because if you dont you will get a 0. I failed math because im not bringing that heavy AS* book to everyclass for 8 hours.

well if they give you a bloody bottom locker so you have to actually sit on the floor with three people getting stuff out of the lockers above your head what other options do you have but to carry all your stuff in your rucksack!?

Whiners. I hauled around my bodyweight in gear in the Marines, so a few books is nothing.

Nobody had a 50 lb. backpack in the late 80's- I don't know where this phenomenon came from, but students have to assume some (not all) of the responsibility for this one. Hey, my cigs didn't weigh that much. . .

It's the worst. I always was late to my classes, so I couldn't stop by my locker. I had to tow my World Civ, Bio, Algebra, Spanish, reading books etc. Around. It weighed more than I did!

Now try lugging the backpack and an instrument case, or two in the case of one of my brothers. Besides, you guys have wheeled backpacks now, so stop bitching. :P

Well, I was a high school student back before this whole trend of lugging around 50 lb. backpacks. Backpacks emerged during my college days, but alas, I was so fashion-conscious I resisted lugging around a backpack because I was afraid it would detract from my carefully constructed look. My little 8-year-old niece doesn't have a backpack;she has one of those huge pieces of luggage you see people rolling around at the airports. This is a bad trend, people, and I have to agree with tboneya that loading little tykes with heavy backpacks and reams of homework is not a good idea. Let 'em be kids.

get tough, i once had to walk around for 3 hours straight with a pack which had over 80 lbs worth of gear in it. But of course you americans aren't quite made for that!

I'm going to have to agree with numbah on this one--I was 90 lbs in high school, and I had to lug around my pack, often the whole day's load of books because my locker would be located in the farthest location possible in the school. Yeah, it's rough, but it's only five minutes between classes, the rest of the day you plop your pack down beside your desk. We've got a society that has a rabid obesity problem, fast food is the norm, and now we're discouraging exercise? Hell, I see school buses that stop at EACH INDIVUDAL CHILD'S FRONT DOOR and WAITS while the kid takes his time to run out; is it that hard to walk to the street corner three houses down so that all the kids within the five-house radius can be picked up at once? I know it sounds like I'm about to bust out the When I was your age, I had to walk ten miles to school, uphill both ways lecture, but seriously, this is too much!

I have back problems to this day because of the enormous weight of my backpack. Among the numerous problems that I faced and still encounter was this intense pain aroused by motion after staying still for a while, making standing up or waking up dreadful experiences for me. The longer I stayed still or the harder the surface of what I was lying down/sitting on was, the more severe the pain was when I stood up. I had to go to several physical therapy sessions to gain some strength in my back, but it didn't make my backpack any lighter, and the problems persisted. Now I have awful posture and it's painful to lift heavy weights for long periods of time.

There's absolutely no sense in this. Fortunately, there is a good alternative. I have seen some kids going to and from school with roll-around cases with adjustable handlebars. I believe those would be more practical, so as to try to prevent back problems before the kid turns 25.

Everyone jokes about this but I see the size of book bags that are almost twice the size of the kid! Not to mention the back problems! Numbah- I'm sure you had a heavy load in the Marines, but why should 8 year olds have to carry such a heavy load, plus they really have no say in the matter (I'm assuming you chose to go to the Marines)?

It's actually a very good workout.