Computers In Schools Are Putting Elementary Schoolchildren At Risk For Posture Problems, Says Cornell Study
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Children in elementary schools may be placed at risk by computer workstations that have been designed with little or no regard for musculoskeletal development, according to a Cornell University study.
The ergonomic and environmental psychology researchers found that almost 40 percent of the third-to-fifth graders studied used computer workstations that put them at postural risk; the other 60 percent scored in a range indicating "some concern." None of the 95 students studied scored within acceptable levels for their postural comfort, says Shawn Oates who conducted the study for her 1995 master's degree at Cornell. The study was recently published in the Computers in Schools (1998, vol.14, issues 3/4, pages 55-63).
In the study, all the keyboard heights were higher than recommended levels, none of the keyboards included wrist or palm rests and the monitors were generally too high.
"In fact, more than half the monitors were higher than adult recommended levels," says Oates, now a standards integration engineer at Ford Motor Co. Oates observed and assessed students at workstations using a standard observational measurement tool that provides quantitative data.
The research was conducted under the supervision of Cornell professors Gary Evans, an environmental psychologist, and Alan Hedge, an ergonomics expert.
"The study revealed a striking misfit between the workstation facilities and the ergonomic requirements for these children," says Oates. She who found no differences in how the children rated in three diverse public school settings: urban, suburban and rural, in upstate New York and southeastern Michigan.
"The research suggests that ergonomic considerations for computer use among
elementary schoolchildren are frequently disregarded; this has implications for
health problems down th
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Contact: Susan S. Lang
SSL4@cornell.edu
607-255-3613
Cornell University News Service
1-Feb-1999