School Safety

The new school year is here, and parents are all concerned with their childrens' well being during the school day. But parents should also concern themselves with their childrens' safety during their daily commute and with the weight of their backpacks.

School Bus Safety
Dr. John Loiselle/ du Pont Hospital:"Over time they have tried to- in generally modify buses now to improve safety from what they were ten, twenty years ago. They’ve added a great deal of additional padding to the buses. "

Dr. John Loiselle is assistant director of emergency services at du Pont Hospital for Children. He has dealt with his share of morning commute mishaps.

Dr. John Loiselle/ du Pont Hospital:"We’ve seen everything from the minor bumps and bruises from falling, whether it was getting on the bus, getting off the bus. You want to make sure that the children are in their seats. You don’t want them standing up, especially when the vehicle is constantly starting up, moving, and coming to stops."

Dr. Loiselle suggests that parents familiarize themselves with the area near their children’s school bus stops.

Dr. John Loiselle/ du Pont Hospital:"It’s important, I think, for the parents to walk the route at least once or twice with their children before the school season starts. Try to pick out the best route to the bus stop. Pick those corners that are safest to cross at where there might be a crossing guard or a crosswalk. Find the appropriate sidewalks to walk on and just point out where the difficult areas might be in getting to that bus stop."

Dr. Loiselle also suggests parents talk with their children about the proper rules of bus safety.

Dr. John Loiselle/ du Pont Hospital:"It’s probably worthwhile questioning the child from time to time and asking are these issues something that comes up in their bus. And if so, to report that back to the bus driver or somebody in charge at the particular school where the bus goes."

Backpacks
For many students, the new school year will mean plenty of homework and more books to carry. But doctors say all those books can be bad for a child's back.

The wearing of heavy backpacks to and from school is a relatively recent phenomenon. And we are seeing a lot of adolescents with back pain.

Dr. Will MacKenzie is a pediatric orthapedic surgeon at the du Pont Hospital for Children.

Will MacKenzie M.D./ du Pont Hospital for Children: " A heavy backpack on a child's 1 shoulder deviates the spine to 1 side. It also limits the mobility of the spine and it can cause back pain. It's been suggested that somewhere between 10-20% of the total weight of the child is the maximum that should be in the backpack." Other tips Dr. McKenzie suggests to avoid back pain are:

* Use backpacks with padded straps, and wear both straps
* Put only essential items in the backpack
* Avoid transporting heavy textbooks
* Keep heavier objects closest to the spine
* If the backpack exceeds 20 lbs., use a waist belt to transfer the weight to the pelvis
* Avoid carrying gymbags for a long period of time Will MacKenzie M.D./ du Pont Hospital for Children: "Using a gym bag is very similar to using a one-strap backpack because all your weight is on 1 side."

For more information on child back pain, call the du Pont Hospital for Children at (302) 651-5913.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP