Recently a young man who participates in Civil War reenactments was giving a talk about his hobby. He shared with the group how a soldier in that war carried his own food supply with him. A bag of food weighed about seven pounds. The rifle he carried weighed ten pounds. The blanket and backpack weighed another forty pounds. This means the typical soldier in the Civil War carried over fifty pounds of material and weaponry with him all the time. Carrying that much weight must have been a heavy burden that made marching from one area to another very tiresome.

The veterans of more recent wars can probably tell of similar loads they carried in their time of service. And students in today's schools can also tell us about burdens they carry. Most children today carry their books in backpacks. A …