Can you remember when you started to get really hacked off with the constant bombardment that if ‘If we don’t address this soon then our children will be the most obese in Europe by next Wednesday? Honestly, haven’t parents got enough on their plate without having to worry about where the next burger is coming from?
However, these harbingers of fatty doom do have a point. Many times I catch the bus home from work which stops outside a very fine hostelry by the name of ‘Hogan’s, and let me see right off the bat that no money, or any Carlsberg whatsoever changed hands for that little promotion.
Anyway, many a time I have stood at said bus stop and watched the comings of goings of people as they go about their business, and in my mind I have begun to play this little game where I place them into three distance categories. Obese’ ‘Overweight’ and ‘Out of Condition’.
Now this is an interesting study that I would encourage all parents to partake in the next time you find yourself waiting six hours for a bus, the delayed tram or train if the employees stop striking for a tax rebate! By the way, isn’t now fantastic when you can look up and see the little amber electronic signs at the bus stops that tells you that your bus will be along in five or six minutes. Of course they have the same thing on the Luas platforms in Dublin, though the last time I looked at the sign it told me that the next Luas bound for the ‘Point’ would be along at approximately the twenty ninth of October!
Anyway I digress. The point is, once you play the aforementioned game in your head, it soon becomes apparent that almost everyone who crosses you path or indeed your line of vision falls into one of those three categories, and to be honest it makes you think. But here’s the thing. With a little exercise and a slight moderation of our diet, none of which has to be too drastic, we could all enjoy a huge improvement to our physical health as well as having the added benefit of helping us look good for the beach once the three days of summer arrive. How could any sensible person disagree?
However no amount of sensible eating can rid you of curvature of the spine. Worn discs and a lifetime of spinal stenosis, and that’s even before I get to sloping shoulders. If you haven’t by now cottoned on to where this is going then here it is.
‘Schoolbags!’
Yes indeed, and I’m deadly serious. Who would have thought that the great and our good young students would be struck down in their carefree schooldays by the sheer weight of their own homework!! If these bags get much heavier the schools will soon be hiring out the children to mountain climbing expeditions! You know a few months ago my daughter asked me to chuck her schoolbag into the car for her as she ran back to her room to fetch her coat. This kind act, which any proud father would do, resulted in a triple hernia from which I am still recovering. And now with school kids returning after six weeks of physical therapy, also known as the summer holidays, you can watch these twelve to sixteen year old Sherpas carrying the weight equivalent to a wilder beast over their young and still developing shoulders.
Concerned, I wrote a letter to my daughter’s school Principal on this very issue, in which I made the insanely common sense idea that children, particularly young girls, be allowed to use a trolley to ferry about the square concrete paving slabs that masquerade as text books. This wasn’t possible, came the non-too polite response, which was the school’s way of politely telling me to fuck off. Apparently the noise that would ensue throughout the corridors of the school might disturb other school children therein who were probably in the middle of extensive physiotherapy to ease away their neck pain?? So what’s to be done I asked myself. And then I had a brain wave to write to the Minister for Education.
‘What about tablet’s then?’ I wrote back to her assuming that schools were going all hi-tech nowadays, and that somehow common sense must win the day in the fight against my daughter’s pending spinal stenosis. The reply left me in no doubt the government was indeed every bit as modern as I had hoped.
‘Dear Parent, Thank for your letter in relation to tablets. Please rest assured that all times the government insists that its schools retain a full cabinet of pain killers!’
Laters.
5th September 2016
great post. My daughter always has back pain. The weight of the books is a joke. I think parents need to lobby their MPs on this?
love the bit about the tablets!! A few schools around me started trialing them but the kids can’t be trusted not to break them but this situation can’t go on?
I actually went to my son’s tutor and complained and he gave him an extra locker probably to ME quiet but the school can’t do this for all pupils.
hilarious!! but really it’s no laughing matter is it? I see some small girls on the pavement and their bags are easily heavier than them!!! I cannot believe the medical profession hasn’t stepped in?
I agree with nigella. This is only building a problem down the road for our hospitals. The post is very funny but alas the situation isn’t!
My daughter is actually being treated for shoulder pain because of the weight of her school bag. Funnily enough I asked the headmaster about trollies and was more or less told the same.
another good post Derek and spot on as usual. But what’s really annoying is with only one minor change to a text book and they bring out a new edition which you then have to buy. That’s a complete scam!
I am personally against switching textbooks for iPads. iPads can be good for students during class when they need another source, a simple search on the internet is easy and extremely helpful. Transferring textbooks onto iPads strains a child’s eyes. It would take their attention OFF of learning. I have laptops at school and I cannot help but go on other sites. If I’m that spaced out, scrolling up and down the page can even satisfy boredom
iPads can be enabled with parental features that disable games etc so it is a good idea it also teaches responsibility
Replacing books with tablets for learning is a terrible idea. Tablets offer little flexibility to reference what was already read and provide distractions. Even my workplace has discouraged laptop and tablet use in meetings because people would not pay attention
I sooo agree with this article!!!! i always come home with like a bunch of books!! Break out the ipads. And it made me laugh!!!
I’m sure people have discussed this for the low scio-economic and hard to staff schools across the country. Also, how will theft, damage and overwhelmed wifi connections at the majority of schools will be dealt with. I’m sure cost management analyst have worked out these potential problems.
i totally agree, we are pushing the school department to make the switch and it is slowly making progress?
Sorry but replacing books with tablets for learning is a terrible idea. Tablets offer little flexibility to reference what was already read and provide distractions. Even my workplace has discouraged laptop and tablet use in meetings because people would not pay attention
There has been at least one study done that concluded that retention is much higher for information we read in a book than information we read on a screen. On that basis I think ebooks are a bad idea. Also, you can’t break a book just by dropping it.
There needs to be a maximum weight set for individual school books. ebooks are not the answer. Fun blog though!
Will the government be removing the vat charged on ebooks which is not charged on regular text books I have a child with Asd and DCD who cannot manage his primary school books and I was desparing of what would happen when he went to secondary school fortunately a local school has moved to compulsory iPads
Remember when you would get your new schoolbooks you would instantly smell it or was that just me??? Unlikely the ebook will have that feature!!! 1-0 real books!
I think it is a great plan BUT every child should have access to it
There has to be a take up of more than 50% for the school to go ahead with the iPad plans. We were told nothing about tablets or folens books??
If. they had opted for a standard format, the books could be read on all devices including the Kindle which is cheaper and more comfortable on the eyes. Also you would just load the books up one at a time and no need for IT infrastructure. Sounds to me like yet another Paddywhackery solution?
Good point.
Incidentally, the beauty of the Kindle and other e-readers is that the display mimmicks paper in that it does not require light emission to be viewable. To my mind it’s important that we don’t replace back strain with eye strain.
Is there much of a saving for these ebooks vs. regular books for parents? There’s no indicaton of price in this article. Without a large saving it’s little more than a gimmick and gold plated pension for lucky Mr. Folen
In general ebooks tend to be about the same price as normal books. Apparently the costs of setting up and maintaining the infrastructure for selling ebooks is more expensive than you’d think.
Also as far as I know, ordinary books do not incur VAT but ebooks do, making them more expensive
Also, you can resell normal books at the end of the year.
Not if a new version has come out because a bloody full stop has been added somewhere? Its all part of the same scam.
The kindle is fine for just reading, but doesn’t do pictures or animation like a tablet does. Going to an electronic format is a fantastic opportunity to have a more interactive and engaging teaching style. If it is decided to go down the ebook route, why restrict it? On the other hand, is looking at a screen for so many hours a day going to affect eyesight?
yes, it’s true school books are changed every few years. sometimes this is justified eg language books should have up-to-date articles and illustrations. but it’s often a cynical excercise aimed purely at eliminating the market in second hand books.once a book has been in circulation for long enough for there to be a significant second-hand stock it’s a bit like a drug going off-patent. the content is changed just enough to make it impractical for the teacher to manage a class where the kids are using two different editions
Couldn’t agree more. Its a f*****g disgrace! Sorry Derek but its true.
Whats wrong with a heavy bag? A bit of extra weight training does you no harm, Might Even give you an advantage on the football pitch. If you carry round a heavy bag all day then a high shoulder from a lefthalf back wiill be no bother to you.
There’s always one!!!
I think its a great idea. it doesnt need to be cheaper the benefit is in enchanced learning aids and lighter loads.the only disadvantage i can see is eye strain. I hope its standard in a few years when my kids go to secondary.
Just out of curiosity, would using a less expensive tablet device not be more cost effective and equally as beneficial as using an Ipad? I remember the weight of my school bag years ago, It was ridiculous and sore! I travel with less weight in my luggage now than what my school bag used to weigh
OK, I can understand that, the school / parents seem to have every angle covered! You have me convinced! The only thing I have for see as being a problem is, will the be let charge them at school? Like will schools/ class rooms have enough plugs to go around? In university, the library never had enough plugs for all of the laptops being used, highly annoying to say the least.