Column 67 for January 7, 2001

Take a load off! Most of you are not parents of school age children, but have you seen the kids at the bus stop lately? Backpacks. BIG Backpacks.

Over the years, textbook companies have made textbooks bigger and bigger. Something about all the photos and drawings. We’re told that the graphics have to keep pace with the other visuals that the kids are seeing or they won’t pay much attention. Schoolbooks are in competition with Nintendo… I agree with the research that says that the printed word makes a larger impression than the electronic word. But hey, we haven’t reached the point that "take-home" e-books are the rule. So we have large textbooks.

It’s really fun walking down the halls of a school now a days. Innocently, a student will turn around and WHAM, you’re hit with a large backpack and nearly tossed off your feet. This is the least of the problem! What about that student, constantly wearing a 20 to 40 pound pack on their back. What does it do to them?

Slumping shoulders, who knows, I really have no idea what long-term effects this will have on our youngsters. I think something should be done.

There are several possible solutions. First, electronic books. I think this is still several years off. I’d worry about students "losing" or mishandling such books too. Next, we could look at the school having a double set of books, so the students wouldn’t have to carry one back and forth between home and school. Nice, but do the schools have the money? No. Well, how about the families having the opportunity to purchase extra books? Not good again, because it wouldn’t be fair to all students.

Back to backpacks. Heavy. What could a smart marketer do to "hit the market?" We’ve all seen the people at the airport with the fold-up, extend-handle suitcase. What we need is a school acceptable (for the kids, meaning "cool") fold-up, extend-handle, large-wheeled, backpack. Why don’t you invent one?

I’m fairly good-sized, but time after time, as I walk down the hall, I’m just about knocked over as some student turns around and hits me full force with a heavy backpack. Let’s "take a load off" and make it easier for our students to carry what they need and save their long-term health. Somehow, this is not beyond our 21^st century abilities!!!

Peace! tomiswho@mindspring.com