I share your concern for the spines of the modern school child.
I read that, in Italy, the Ministry of Health guidelines are that a child should not carry a backpack that is more than 10-15% of their body weight. Great I thought, then I read that, in reality, these guidelines are largely ignored.
In the UK, it is recommended that backpacks are always carried on the back and supported by both shoulder straps.It is also recommended that bags on wheels are used but I can't see schoolchildren taking kindly to wheeling old lady shopping bags around especially as many of them walk to school.
Early reading v continental custom - teachers’ thoughts sought
