While backpacks are an essential, parents must remember that regular use of heavily loaded backpacks can cause several long lasting problems.

These unwelcome side effects are confirmed by several studies including one by American Academy of Orthopedic Studies or AAOS. According to the studies, heavy backpacks stress and strain, spine and shoulder muscles. These strains in turn, in addition to fatigue, lead children to droop and to assume unattractive postures.

So how heavy is too heavy? That depends on the child’s weight and his or her fitness. According to AAOS guidelines, backpacks should not weigh more than 15 to 20 percent of the child’s weight. To illustrate, 100 pound child should not carry a backpack weighing 20 pounds. However this is just a guideline, if a child is very fit, he or she may carry a little more, and if not, must carry less.

Observe your child’s actual reactions when carrying the backpack to decide. If the child seems to droop, has difficulty in mounting the backpack to shoulders, complains of pain afterwards, and has marks on the skin, then you must immediately act to change the backpack and its weight.

You can also take some steps when selecting backpacks and later, to preempt problems that may arise. Select wide padded backpacks with padded straps to reduce strain. Buy backpacks with hip straps in addition to shoulder straps. Similarly try backpacks that can run on wheels when floor conditions allow. Encourage your child to correctly use and mount backpack and straps, in order to distribute weight evenly. When packing, tell your child to so place heavy items, in a way that they end up next to the spine. Encourage child to lift the backpack by bending and straightening legs at knees, instead of using hands alone. Finally encourage your child to make full use of school lockers and discourage carrying useless books.

There have been several chilling stories in the media about pedophile predators using the Internet to lure children. Yes, Internet can be a dangerous place for children but it is primarily a place of knowledge and entertainment. As such aim of the parents, like you, should be to guide and supervise the children’s use of internet and not to hinder its use altogether.

There are few things that parents can do to make internet a safe entertaining and educational source for children.

• Talk to your child about what they can access and cannot access openly. Articulate your concerns and why you are taking steps to supervise his or her internet use. Get your child to talk openly about what they did and are going to do online. Always keep the channels of communication open
• Be firm if you want to forbid something they have been doing, but always have good reasons and explain them to your children.
• Examine history of your child’s Web and email usage with their consent. See if there are any patterns.
• Use a software filter to block unwanted content. In addition you can restrict the sites that can be accessed by the children. However do not be dogmatic, because some of these filters can be crude in the way they block content; blocking breast cancer websites because they contain the word breast for instance. So be ready to open up content on need, say if the child needs to do research on cancer for a school project.
• Teach your child about things they can reveal about themselves online. Nothing personal should ever be revealed.
• Do not allow your child to make friends online with anyone without your first getting an opportunity to check them out. Ask your child to speak to you if someone is trying to make friends with them.
• Familiarize yourself with the websites your children visit.
• Google your child’s name or names. This will give you an idea about the overall web profile of the child.

These are only pointers, you should tailor them to your circumstances, your child’s nature, and the relationship you have with her or him.