I took this picture of Thing One (who is wearing a soccer jersey to school, because of course he is) just before he walked out to the school bus this morning. This is what he carries every day.
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| Standard morning load |
Starting from the front, the red pack on his chest is his soccer pack. All his gear for his JV practice after school today: cleats, practice clothes, shinguards, etc. The navy blue pack on his back is all his school gear: binders, Chromebook, textbooks. It's hard to tell, because it's the same color, but he's also carrying a *third* bag over his shoulders, hanging atop the school pack. That's his gym bag. They have to bring a change of clothes for gym class.
When he gets to school, he can drop the soccer pack in a locker room, but the rest he has to carry around with him all day. That would include a coat if it were cold enough to need one. There are lockers, but he doesn't have one: his school is so ridiculously enormous that he wouldn't have time to get to a locker between classes anyway so he told me not to bother getting him one. Very few kids actually use them for that reason. Back to school night is next week and he told me to wear sneakers again! Last year I clocked about three high-speed miles on my FitBit that night just crossing and re-crossing campus between his classrooms. I was tired afterward and all I was carrying was my purse.
Public schools need to get it going, my grandson, a freshman, also does not have a locker, construction in his school, so who knows if he will ever get a locker. But he is happy that he does get to carry his backpack all day, does not have to worry about having his books, supplies for each class...very different from when I attended HS...
ReplyDeleteIt’s crazy, Victoria. My son is also happy that he always has his stuff with him, but that’s a LOT to carry around all the time. I would guess at least 40 pounds. He’s a decent sized kid, but for smaller kids that must be really difficult!
ReplyDeleteMy grandson is 14 and looks like a senior at least in size. He never complains about the stuff he has to carry around so guess it is just the norm...
ReplyDeleteIs his a big school? My son's is huge, with more than 3000 students. More like a small college campus than a high school!
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