Writing Question:
A recent survey has found that a large number of primary pupils in Hong Kong are carrying overweight school bags.  You think this is not a promising phenomenon and something must be done.

Write a letter to the editor of the Hong Kong Daily stating your opinion.  You should explain why it is not acceptable and suggest two measures to alleviate the problem.

Dear Editor,

    I am writing to express my point of views on the issue that Hong Kong primary pupils are carrying school bags with full loaded stuff.  Should we see this as a blessing or a curse?  Since electronic devices are found literally everywhere, is it the right time to consider replacing traditional textbooks with electronic ones?

    To commence with, there are great many of problems associated with students carrying overweight school bags.  According to the Department of Health, students should not carry a school bag weighed over 1/3 of their body weight.  So, when students carry overweight school bags, they might suffer from spinal pain.  Moreover, since most of the pupils are in a critical growing period, it might harm their body development.  What’s more, not all students live near their schools and it would be really tough for those who have to travel a long way carrying such a pain.  Personally, I had a similar experience when I was studying in primary school.  I needed to carry an overweight schoolbag to school; to me, the school bag was as heavy as my little brother.  When I arrived school, I would not have the mood to listen to my teachers in the first two lessons since I was fatigued and exhausted.

    From the aforementioned problems, we can clearly see that it would indeed harm students both directly and indirectly.  Not only their physical health but also their mental health would suffer.  Thereby, I support that schools should use electronic textbooks instead of traditional ones.  With the advance of technology, having the function of reading the texts out for students makes them know the correct pronunciation of each word.  So, it provides convenience to students’ learning.  Also, without the limit of supply, students don’t need to worry that they have no books to use, especially for the ones who always rush things and would buy their textbooks at the last minute.  Furthermore, the most fundamental reason is that students don’t need to carry overweight school bags to school anymore and they don’t need to worry that they might suffer from spinal pain since electronic textbooks are lighter than the bulky, heavy traditional textbooks.

    From the above mentioned blessings of using electronic textbooks, we can clearly see that not only can it minimize the burden of pupils, but it also benefits there learning.  But, some people might have an illusion that, if pupils look at the monitor for a long time, they might develop myopia; nevertheless, teachers will take the responsibility of reminding pupils to look at green things, like the trees outside the classroom or the plants inside, every 30 minutes.  Also, the school can organize regular seminars about the proper ways of using electronic gadgets.  Additionally, some people might argue that electronic gadgets are way more expensive than the traditional textbooks; nonetheless, schools can use the concept of “sharing economy” here as they can last for so long and there can be a lot of pupils sharing them at them same time.  So, it would be worth it to go electronic.

    To conclude, the problems of students carrying overweight school bags give us food for thought and I hope opinions on whether schools should turn to using electronic textbooks or not can arouse greater public interest and build room for contemplation.

Yours faithfully,

5A (15) Wong Tsz Ching, Zara