You’re out and about walking from class to class when you come to the realization that your back is killing you because of the weight you carry each day.

  Carolina Hernandez, a first-year student who is also in Color Guard, says, ‘‘My bookbag weighs me down ‘till the point my coach has to crack my back because of the pain.’’ Carolina carries a binder, two composition notebooks, and a book. She believes teachers should have us keep our books in class instead of walking around with them. 

  Leah Pineda, a freshman, carries two binders, three folders, a pencil pouch, two journals, and a laptop. She says, “On both A days and B days, I carry a lot of books, and it’s super heavy. Sometimes I have no space to even fit any of my practice clothes or equipment.’’ 

  Mr. Zabala, one of Miami High’s assistant principals, somewhat contradicts the idea that students carry a lot in their bags now as opposed to in the past. He says, ‘‘Students today are actually carrying less books than students used to carry. Students have class sets and devices which make their bags weigh less. Even though students don’t have access to lockers, now their teachers do have class sets of books, so it balances it out.”   

   Mr. Carreño, one of MHS’s most beloved teachers agrees that nowadays, we don’t pack on as much weight as students used to back in the day. “It was a problem back then because of all the books we had to carry. It’s a little less now when there’s a lot of books online.’’  

   However, he added that students in the past   had more of an advantage because most schools used lockers back then unlike now.   

   Keilly Fernandez, a freshman, carries a great load, which tends to weigh her down. ‘’It’s really affected my posture in multiple ways. Considering the fact, it weighs so much when I stand up, my back is fully arched.’’  

   She is one of the many students who are a part of the law program who climb up seventy-eight steps to get to their 4th floor law class. Keilly continued, “I wish teachers could give out less homework so we wouldn’t have so much weight added to our bags.’’   

    Student athletes have a huge disadvantage with their bookbags because they also deal with carrying their sports equipment and essentials. This causes stress on their arms or backs depending on what they must carry. 

    Leah Pineda, who is also a member of the volleyball team, said, ‘‘It would be easier to get to class on time because my back hurts as I’m climbing the stairs, and it causes shoulder pain.’’ She says it’s very difficult to carry all her things at once while climbing the stairs. It also affects her when she’s playing because it causes her to get cramps and aches. 

    Many student athletes wish they could have somewhere to store all their sports bags so they wouldn’t have to deal with the weight of it. Mr. Graham, who is the athlete director, says, ‘‘A solution that could be used is that the students could ask their coach early in the morning to put their bags there, but it would put more responsibility on their coach.’’  

   He added, “There’s no other way around it. There is no solution because we only have a locker room for P.E. and only whichever sport is in season is allowed to use it.’’