Magazine Article

The Great School Bag Problem

Why are we carrying a small fridge on our backs every morning – and what can we do about it?

By Omar Tarek, Year 8

Picture this: it is 7:15 on a Sunday morning, and you are standing at the school gate, bent forward like an old man climbing a mountain. On your back is a bag stuffed with six textbooks, five exercise books, a pencil case the size of a shoebox, a lunch box and a water bottle. Sound familiar? You are not alone. When our magazine team weighed the bags of thirty Year 8 students last week, the heaviest was nearly nine kilograms – about the same as a large watermelon.

Why Are Our Bags So Heavy?

The answer is surprisingly simple: most of us carry everything, every day, just in case. Timetables change, teachers ask for different books, and nobody wants to be the student who forgot the workbook. In addition, many of our textbooks are thick, hardback and printed on heavy paper. Add sports kit on PE days, and the problem doubles.

What Is It Doing to Us?

Many doctors advise that a school bag should weigh no more than about a tenth of the person carrying it. For most of us, that means four or five kilograms at most – roughly half of what some students are carrying. "Every week I see students with sore shoulders and backache," says our school nurse, Mr Hany. "At this age, the spine is still growing, so carrying too much weight, especially on one shoulder, really matters." The effects are not only physical, either. Arriving at school tired and aching is hardly the best way to start a day of learning.

So, What Can We Do?

The good news is that small changes make a big difference. Firstly, pack your bag the night before using your timetable, and leave behind anything you do not need. Secondly, wear your bag on both shoulders and tighten the straps, so that the weight sits close to your back. Thirdly – and this is where the school comes in – lockers or class shelves would allow students to store heavy books instead of carrying them home every day. Teachers could also help by telling us in advance which books we need, or by sharing pages online.

Our student council has already asked the head of Year 8 whether a shelf for each class could be trialled next term, and the early response is encouraging.

The next time you heave that bag onto your shoulders, ask yourself one question: do I really need everything in here? Your back will thank you for the answer.

Ink, Patience and a Bamboo Pen

Why Arabic calligraphy might be the calmest – and coolest – hobby you have never tried

By Yahia Mahmoud, Year 8

Two years ago, my handwriting was so messy that my own mother could not read my shopping lists. Today, people ask me to write their names on birthday cards. The secret? A sharpened piece of bamboo, a pot of black ink and a hobby that is over a thousand years old: Arabic calligraphy.

A Beautiful Art in Every Street

Once you start noticing calligraphy, you see it everywhere – curling across mosque walls, painted above old shop fronts, printed on the banknotes in your pocket. It is the art of writing beautifully, and in the Arabic tradition it has been treated as a serious art form for centuries. I got into it by accident: one summer, my grandfather showed me how he wrote the letter alif when he was at school, with a single, perfect stroke. I tried to copy him and failed fifty times. I was hooked.

How to Get Started

You do not need expensive equipment. A beginner needs only a calligraphy pen (a cheap felt-tip version works well at first), some smooth paper and plenty of patience. Most teachers start students on Ruq'ah, the simple script many of us already use for everyday handwriting, before moving on to Naskh and, eventually, the elegant Thuluth. Look for a weekend class at a cultural centre, or ask your Arabic teacher – you may be surprised how many of them practise it themselves. Practise for fifteen minutes a day rather than three hours once a week; little and often is the golden rule.

Why It Is Worth It

Calligraphy teaches you something that most of our lives do not: how to slow down. When the pen touches the paper, you cannot rush, check your phone or think about tomorrow's test. Your breathing slows and your mind clears. "It is like meditation with ink," says Ustaz Ibrahim, who has taught calligraphy in Cairo for twenty years. It also improves your handwriting, your concentration and, believe it or not, your patience with younger brothers and sisters.

Of course, you will make mistakes. Your first letters will wobble, your ink will smudge and your paper will tear. That is all part of the journey.

So, why not give it a try this weekend? Find a pen, write your own name slowly and carefully, and see how it feels. You might discover that the most relaxing hour of your week has been hiding in a pot of ink all along.