Fatimah Ali | OUR KIDS' CRUSHING BURDEN

CITY schools haven't even been in session for a week, and I'm already pressing my children's new principal and district authorities to make some reforms.

Have you tried to carry your child's backpack lately? I picked up my sixth-grader's on the second day of school. It felt like a ton of bricks, far too heavy for a 90-pound 11-year-old to carry around. I could barely lift it myself.

I think overloaded book bags contribute to many of our children's hostility because they're in so much pain. They are exhausted - and there's medical evidence to support my theory.

Doctors say children who carry too-heavy book bags during their growing years can face long-term damage to their posture and strength. Physical therapists and pediatricians warn that children shouldn't haul around more than 15 percent of their body weight, or they can suffer permanent damage from muscle overload, which can ruin skeletal alignment and overall health.

Heavy school bags should also be of major concern because so many of our children are weak to begin with because of poor nutrition and lack of exercise.

After introducing myself to our new principal, I immediately lodged my complaint about the book bags. But this serious concern should also not go unnoticed by higher-ups in the school district.

I'm so determined to shed enough light on this issue and get a new school policy implemented that I told our new principal that I'd be writing about it.

For several years, kids at my children's school haven't been allowed to use their lockers because older students had vandalized them. There were apparently also a lot of book thefts, so students who changed classes every period were required to carry all their books around all day. It's ridiculous that children's physical health is being compromised because some children steal.

Our last principal met parents' complaints about the book overload with instructions for us to purchase bags with rollers, but that doesn't solve the problem.

Children still have to lug them up steps, they are heavier than backpacks without wheels, plus they make too much noise. Already, my youngest is hunched over, complaining about having to carry so many books from class to class. She begs us, her parents, to pick her up from school because of it, and we comply, even though school is within walking distance from our home.

Experts are so concerned about this health risk, they've established a day to educate the public about the ergonomics of backpacks. The American Occupational Therapy Association has declared Sept. 19 National School Backpack Awareness Day with the theme "Pack It Light, Wear It Right!"

Organizers will host events around the country that will have weigh stations, warn students about the hazards of carrying heavy books incorrectly, and teach them the importance of balancing their books safely. Since school administrators nationwide seem to be having difficulty grasping the risk, perhaps our lawmakers can force them to recognize the hazards of weighing down our children.

Legislators in other parts of the world have been monitoring the weight of their children's school books for years.

An Internet report from 1995 tells of a mayor in Cantu, Italy, who decided that parents would face six months in jail and a $250 fine for allowing their children to lug too-heavy bags. Enforcers were posted at checkpoints outside schools.

But how about some other innovative ideas to preserve our children's health?

Publishers and educators could collaborate and change the way they produce school books. Instead of one huge heavy text per subject, why not publish textbooks in smaller sections and distribute them throughout the year? Publishing thinner books in paperback could cut down on costs as well as weight.

Ultimately, schools should be striving to computerize our children's learning. For the amount of money spent on heavy texts, schools could provide each child with a laptop to take home and desktop computers and smart boards for classrooms.

STUDENTS would then be transporting software instead of books - and that would also help deal with many other problems our world faces today.

Environmentalists, for example, say we waste too much paper and are ruining the environment by cutting down too many trees.

If we can produce an iPod the size of a wallet, why aren't we also using this technology to decrease the physical wear on our children and the depletion of our forests?

Instead of loading children down with ridiculously heavy book bags, we should be developing innovative educational technology that preserves their health as well as the ozone layer. *

Fatimah Ali is a regular contributor. E-mail her at fameworksmedia@yahoo.com.