Heavy Backpacks

I just got back from a long day of class... 7:30 am to about 6:30 pm jam packed full of classes. I don't have a chance to put books anywhere, so I end up carrying three binders, four textbooks, and one notebook with me on an average Thursday. I am just going to go ahead and guess that my backpack weighs about 25 pounds, plus or minus a few. I still live in the dorms, so I end up walking to class, too (approximately four miles of walking each day). I got back and realized how great it was to take my backpack off and not have to carry it around for the rest of the night. I then got thinking about the issue of school children and heavy backpacks. I found an article on the problems heavy backpacks can cause, and it is a little scary. The experts say a backpack is not supposed to weigh more than 10-15 percent of a person's total body weight. Basically that means that unless I weigh 250 pounds (which I do not), I am definitely carrying way too much in my backpack., Unfortunately, I need all of those materials in my classes. Soon I will be driving from my ED350 class, so I 1.) won't be walking as much 2.) will be able to leave some books in my car. Thank goodness. As a future educator I just wonder what teachers can do to help with kids having heavy backpacks.