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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Heavy Schoolbags. Does anyone use a trolleybag?

139 replies

MyBonnyLiesOverTheOcean2020 · 30/11/2020 11:34

Dd is in year 8 and walks to school but her bag is just so heavy. With Covid they are not using their lockers so having to carry this load around all day as well. When I suggested a trolleybag she wrinkled her nose and said that nobody uses one. Does anyone's son or daughter use a trolleybag for school and if so can I ask which one? Thank you.

OP posts:
Horizons83 · 30/11/2020 12:24

I don't think the OP is thinking of a granny's shopping trolley.. more of an executive pilot case.

Ginfordinner · 30/11/2020 12:25

DD didn't get any text books at school except for one for English lit GCSE and when she was doing A levels.

She went to a very underfunded comprehensive. They used worksheets and online resources instead.

SoupDragon · 30/11/2020 12:26

@Horizons83

I don't think the OP is thinking of a granny's shopping trolley.. more of an executive pilot case.
I know.

It's still a definite no from me! And from her teen DD which is what really matters - if any kids used them at her school and had no problems then her reaction would have been different.

BettyDuKeiraBellisMyShero · 30/11/2020 12:29

How about a backpack that also has wheels, so it can be used on the back at school and on wheels when on the way home?

www.cathkidston.com/en-gb/bags/shop-by-style/travel-and-weekend-bags/105247916217102.html?glCountry=GB&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzZL-BRDnARIsAPCJs71gVO6Uai4ug9LEMpTmtQVOkXouzIqtiOsqDiTsCAjSpz1l2NHOngwaAjUvEALw_wcB

Thrownaway · 30/11/2020 12:29

Agree its social suicide.

Very few of the wheely bags are easy to get up steps, and the fashion style ones arent meant for being pulled or pushed long distances so any uneven pavement, sloped pavement or kerb is likely to be hell. You'll be likely to then be dead lifting it up stairs which will be worse for your back

A decent backpack is the way foward

EmeraldShamrock · 30/11/2020 12:32

I hear you it is ridiculous I don't know why they can't do a timetable like the secondary schools.
Lots of the DC have swapped to trolley bags, they are out of stock everywhere.
I ordered one from the UK.
My DD has low muscle tone with dyspraxia the back pack is to heavy, she trips over the trolley bag and can't manage the balance.
I carry her backpack half way in the morning.
She brings lunch with 2 bottles of water too as you can't use the taps anymore.

40weekswithno2 · 30/11/2020 12:32

I really wouldn't ask her to take a trolley bag, she'll be laughed at.
When I was at school we had 6 subjects a day or 5 plus PE kit, we didn't have lockers, walked over a mile to school and managed to carry all of our stuff.
Is the bag itself the problem? A lightweight rucksack would be fine but a heavy leather shoulder bag wouldn't be

EmeraldShamrock · 30/11/2020 12:33

How about a backpack that also has wheels they weigh a lot before books go in.

Thrownaway · 30/11/2020 12:35

I've never found bags like the one above wheel well on streets. They tend to fall on pavements with a slope and are a nightmare if its uneven (scuffing constantly), they often dont have enough clearance if the ground is wet to protect the bag from getting filthy and soaked.

It's worth looking at the ergonomics of the wheely bags as some force you in an unnatural position and make the strain worse on backs/shoulders/elbows

Katrinawaves · 30/11/2020 12:37

We didn’t have lockers when I was at school nor online textbooks or resources. I had to carry textbooks and files for 9 lessons to and from school daily (1 mile walk) plus games kit when needed and around school all day from the age of 11. It wasn’t fun but we got used to it and am certainly not aware it caused any harm to my small still growing frame! There is a point at which you can be too protective of your kids and over worry things.

EvelynBeatrice · 30/11/2020 12:38

What a shame that the British are like this. In the Nordic countries I’m familiar with its all about the practicality. It wouldn’t even have occurred to a kid to find anything funny or be mean about a thing like this. Contempt is reserved for those without sufficient backbone and maturity who cave in to stupidity and shallow judgement.

Hoppinggreen · 30/11/2020 12:40

A boy in DDs class had a pilot case in Y7 (briefly). They are all in Y11and it still gets mentioned.
They should be able to take what bag they want/works best but it would take a child with an incredible amount of self confidence (or who is completely oblivious) to use a wheeled case unfortunately

TheMobileSiteMadeMeSignup · 30/11/2020 12:41

My mum suggested this to me when I was in high school in the 90s as I had so many folders, instruments etc. I wasn't cool or popular anyway but that would have been my absolute death knell if I'd rocked up with a trolley bag.

Hoppinggreen · 30/11/2020 12:41

Evelyn funnily enough DH is German and he is baffled by the whole “social suicide” thing

OverTheRainbow88 · 30/11/2020 12:42

Some elderly teachers do!!!

EmeraldShamrock · 30/11/2020 12:43

Wow I can believe the reaction to a trolley bag, no wonder I got one no problem from the UK.
There is lots of DC using them here since covid.

Original poster
MyBonnyLiesOverTheOcean2020 · 30/11/2020 12:44

Thank you for your replies. I must admit I was expecting more along the lines of EvelynBeatrice's post, especially as there's more and more evidence that heavy bags are damaging our children's backs. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5405972/

OP posts:
Bikingbear · 30/11/2020 12:45

Why is she carrying two lever arch files?

I use to leave the big files at home. I had a ring binder with my the current topics in it. When we moved of that topic it, the notes for it moved into the leaver arch file that stayed at home. Why carry that amount of stuff around?

MissBaskinIfYoureNasty · 30/11/2020 12:46

Absolutely not. Don't do it to your child. The one kid that had a trolley bag at my secondary school was totally ripped for it bless her.

yorkshirepudddiing · 30/11/2020 12:49

See if you can go through her bag and work out what is necessary and what isn't.

It's no good to be carrying huge heavy bags around all the time but there's no way you can send a child to school with what is essentially an elderly persons shopping trolley Grin

haba · 30/11/2020 12:53

I make my two empty their bags completely every evening, and only put in what they need for the next day. DD's was often ridiculous pre-covid, but at least she could stash instrument, textbooks etc in her locker back then.

We have a plastic popper wallet per subject, papers/exercise book goes into it, so it's easy to just take the bits they need and to wipe over when people have been breathing germs on them according to DD

I know one child that has a trolley case, because they've a scoliosis and had/need surgery. No bullying there, but I think for anyone else there would be.

My children are different enough already, thanks.

zigaziga · 30/11/2020 12:58

But surely you remember what high school was like, OP?

ThisBear · 30/11/2020 13:00

Some subjects you can end up needing to carry the notes for several modules in the same binder, so it's not easy to split them out and just being the essentials. It's easy to end up with a heavy bag that's not easily reduced, I can sympathise. Not sure the trolley will work unless there's a trend but some backpacks have more padding on the back and shoulder straps which might help with comfort a little bit.

SimplyRadishing · 30/11/2020 13:02

Just no.

Get a decent back pack.

Ironingontheceiling · 30/11/2020 13:04

Hahahahaha

No.

Go through her bag in the evening and teach her how to lift out of her bag the stuff she doesn’t need for the next day.