Backpacks on wheels! WTF?
 

Is it just me, or is anyone else annoyed by these things? It makes people look really lazy, like they are to weak to carry a backpack.

Bah! I hate those things....and I really really hate when ppl that are pulling them are zooming down a crowded hallway or such, and ram in to you with them....it's disturbing.

They're around everywhere on my campus. It's usually the computer science majors at my school that carry them. They have the Java/CS hefty books and a laptop with them to lug all around campus and to the parking lots (and trust me, Lot K is a waaaaaalllk).

I also knew a girl who had back problems, so she couldnt to the tradional backpack route, there was less strain with it on the ground.

They do cause problems though, they take up valuable space in lecture halls, and they do bump into ppl, but they usually apologize for it around here.

I would just like to speak up on behalf of all CompSci Majors (at least the ones I know) those things suck. I mean sure im a geeky tech guy but I draw the line at wheeled backpacks. :)

Haha - I just have to laugh about the wheelie backpacks. Yes, they are extremely dorky but sometimes they are necessary! I'm in law school right now and a lot of people have them! Our books are sooooo heavy (hardback books at least 1000 pages, often more than 1500) and we have to carry so many things to class. Plus, depending on how you take notes, either big binders or a laptop. That's a lot of weight to drag around! :p

Lucky me, I live in a house across the street from the law school, so I can just take my books home after each class, but if I lived any further I would be happy to be a dork and buy a wheelie backpack too!

I don't understand why undergrads would get them though. I rarely if ever had to bring very many books to class in undergrad. We always laugh when the undergrad girls try to study in the law library trying to pick up law school guys. They are sooo freaking obvious because they have their one little folder and one little book and they are dressed up like it's a party. We all lug in about 2 - 3 huge books and are wearing jeans.

G8Ralphaxi:)

Well I was an English Lit and Creative Writing major as an undergrad and would HAPPILY have wheeled a backpack around had they existed then.

If I had three classes a day--that was three anthologies numbering 3000 pages each, whatever novel we were reading plus associated notebooks and folders-- a lot of weight to carry around-- and my last semester, living off campus, carting it in from a mile or more away--whereever I could find parking---whoa--my achin' back!

:)
Amy

The backpack on wheels is not limited to college campuses. I've seen them used by students in elementary school, including my ten year-old niece. From what I hear, it has been encouraged. However, back problems is the main reason I've been told they are used.

Personally I take offense to the original comment, because I was one of those "backpack on wheels" people...not because I'm lazy, but because I've had a bad back problem since the 9th grade, and I have no choice but to use the wheels or endure pain every day. I've only had to use the wheels during semesters where I have large and heavy textbooks.

And I agree with AKAtude--children and parents are encouraged by their schools to get the wheels because they're carrying more supplies and the books are getting bigger. I went shopping with my 9 year old cousin the other day, who was horrified and embarassed that her mother was buying her wheels. I fill her head with stories of my back problems and that shuts her up. It's a good thing now that many companies are coming out with backpacks that are designed to reduce the strain on your back. Aren't you only supposed to carry 20% of your own weight on your back? If I'm wrong, please correct me!

I agree, getting run over in the halls is annoying--but please please please don't be so quick to assume that these people are lazy.

Oooh, flashback to 1989! I had no idea we were so obvious!!! But, hey, it worked ;)

LOL!
 

Tracy,

That was me last year (pre-Brady of course). Luckily I had a friend who worked in the library who educated us on what to wear and what to bring.

Ms. OTW, with back problems you are excused.

Backpacks on wheels? Now I have heard everything. Why not have personalized golf carts that you can park right in front of your classroom? That would be cool.

There have been record numbers of small schoolchildren being treated for back problems ranging from pulled muscles to cracked vertebrae to torn shoulder ligaments - all due to the overweight backpacks these kids must carry.

School schedules have beens structured in such a way that many kids take all their books with them, all day, because there isn't enough time to run back to lockers to change out the books.

A recent TV report (20/20 or Dateline) found that many children were carrying one-half or more of their own body weight on their backs. Most kids don't carry their book bags properly AND most backpacks sold as book bags really aren't engineered to fit well and be safe to the wearer.

You can make fun of wheeled backpacks but that's because you weigh over 100 pounds and carrying 20+pounds of books seems reasonable. Look at a small first grader weighing only 40 or 50 pounds, and try to get them to lug around the same amount of books as you.

Personally, I think schools at all levels should adjust their schedules to allow more frequent trips to the lockers and require that students not be allowed to carry more than 25% of their body weight - essentially making wheeled book bags a requirement.