Back in October, I noted that California was pushing to lighten student's load in their backpacks by eliminating things like books, studying, and homework.

Today, Reuters writes about a 'study' (and you know how I feel about studies) that shows that heavy backpacks are not as big of a problem as some people would lead you to believe. The defining quote is:

Teaching children to put packs out of harm's way and not swing them like a mace would pay bigger safety dividends [than reducing the weight]...

"Recommending that children put the backpacks in a safe place so they do not trip over them, and not to use them as a weapon to hit another person, could eliminate more than 40 percent of backpack injuries"

Who would have thought you'd see common sense popping up? Gee, don't attack each other with your 20 pound backpacks and you're a lot less likely to sustain a backpack related injury. They needed a study for that?