The CA State Senate considers a weighty issue:  The issue of tiny little fragile baby children lugging monstrously heavy textbooks to and from school in back packs loaded down with not only their books, but laptops, video games, soft drinks, bottled water, high fructose corn syrup, various genetically modified things, single-use plastic grocery bags and e-cigs.  A senate staffer who asked to remain anonymous stated that Senators are looking into this “because of the potential health risks posed to children by performing actual physical exercise”.

The issue has been gaining momentum since ten years ago when the State School Board adopted weight standards for textbooks.  It is common knowledge that textbooks have gotten heavier over the years;  Schoolkids of earlier generations, say from the dawn of time until the California Legislature achieved permanent Democratic Majorities suffered no ill effects form carrying their books – in the 1960’s for example it was common to see children walking to and from school balancing  ten or twelve textbooks stacked on top of their heads.  Backpacks were unheard of.  Textbooks of the day were lighter, most likely due to the high levels of extremely radioactive waste products used in their maufacture, a practice which was halted by Democratic administrations who cared more about the children than their own parents did.  But the trade off is that now books are heavy.  And the delicate flower children of today can’t be asked to do anything that may cause them to crack a sweat or harm their self esteem – and toting a heavy backpack makes a child feel weak.  A child who feels weak feels bad, and gone are the days when you could give em a twinkie and a pat on the butt to make them feel better, because it is illegal.  Yes, both of those things are illegal.

While the textbook weight standards are a logical first step, I suggest that in the ten years of their existence we have only seen the problem get worse in the perception of caring State Senators and the Chiroporactic lobbying groups that sponsor related legislation.  I am calling for bold action and an end to limp wristed half measures.  I am calling on the Senate to establish a commision to to compile a report on the feasability of establishing a study on creating a warning label for textbooks, backpacks and…hell, just put it on everything next to the Prop 65 warning:

textbook warningsign

Remember…it’s not stupid If It’s For The Children!