Back-breaking books could be a thing of the past if a proposal to replace them goes anywhere.
Deputy Minister Kalaya Sophonpanich revived the idea of replacing heavy textbooks with digital versions to lighten student loads in response to images of a teen girl with a crooked spine her mother blamed on heavy backpacks.
The bureaucrat announced the plan, which has previously been floated and forgotten, after a mother in Khon Kaen province blamed her 14-year-old daughter’s scoliosis on heavy backpacks after it was diagnosed during a routine X-ray.
“If she didn’t get sick and come to this hospital, we would never know about her crooked spine,” Supap Deeboonmee told reporters. She said a general practitioner had made the diagnosis and had yet to see an orthopedic specialist.
As for replacing texts with ebooks, the Education Ministry’s Kalaya said the idea would have to be studied for its own health risks, such as potential damage to young eyes and postures by extended screen time.
Supap said her daughter, high school freshman Pantongtae “Tony” Deeboonmee, was admitted to an unnamed private hospital with a cough and fever when the X-ray was performed.
She said Pantongtae had complained about back and shoulder pain since she entered seventh grade. That’s around the time students start lugging heavy backpacks from class to class; it’s also the age when symptoms from naturally occuring scoliosis can become evident.
Although carrying heavy loads cannot cause scoliosis, it can worsen an existing condition.
Supap said she would ask the school to allow her daughter to use a wheeled bag in lieu of a backpack when she returns to school this week.
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