Analysis of The Number and Weight School Bags of Primary School Children in Rivers State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17605/cajssh.v6i2.1177Keywords:
School Bag Weight, Primary Schools Pupils, Technological Gadgets, Laptops, Tablets, Average Bag WeightAbstract
School bags play a vital role in the school system. They help the children keep their learning materials together and safe, and also provides a means of transporting them to school. A recent encounter with a 9-year-old whose textbooks alone weighed 10kg triggered the need to investigate if heavy bag weights is a one-off occurrence or prevalent in the educational system. This study which had Port Harcourt Metropolis as its study area sought to find out how many bags primary school children in Rivers State took to school, the weight of their school bags and what type of school bags they carried. The findings were that majority (84%) of the 1001 children went to school with more than one bag, some having as many as 4 bags; 64% had bags that were above the recommended 10% of their body weight, with some being as much as 50%; majority of the children had backpacks for school bags. The study recommended a deliberate policy to restrict this prevalence the weight of school bags by the government; find out which the children’s bags are so heavy and carry out mediation on children whose health might be affected by the weight of the bags.
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