Get a backpack with a hip belt. Seriously.

The hip belt is what actually distributes weight evenly for a high schooler hauling textbooks.

Here’s the thing: regular school backpacks dump everything on the shoulders. That’s why kids hurt. A padded shoulder strap is nice, but it doesn’t move the load anywhere. A hip belt does exactly what it does on a hiking pack — it transfers the weight onto the hips and legs, which are built to carry it. That’s the whole trick.

You don’t need to buy a full mountaineering pack. Brands like O