Have you ever wondered why classroom chairs are not ergonomic chairs? Many people think ergonomic means comfortable. However, the two words are not synonymous. Ergonomics refers to characteristics of individuals that should be considered when chairs are being designed. The aim of considering these characteristics is to ensure that users will interact safely and effectively while using them.
When taken in a natural way, ergonomic chairs are seats that are designed in a way that enable users to sit in a way that relieves or eliminates musculoskeletal stress. This enhances comfort of users.
Although providing ergonomic chairs for students may sound simple, it can be complex because every student has a different body structure. Even the needs of the bodies of people with same height vary. There are those with shorter legs while some people have longer legs. Back structures of different people also vary. To ensure that chairs of a classroom are really ergonomic, they must be adjustable. This implies that they must have a back tilt, seat tilt and height tilt and also have an armrest.
Finding a school with such chairs is almost impossible. These chairs are only found in offices and they are used by secretaries, computer technicians, receptionists, and CEOs. Students sit in a classroom for long hours writing and reading. Since most students are aged 18 years and below, they are likely to suffer chronic musculoskeletal disorders because their bodies are developing.
Considering this factor as well as ensuring maximum concentration of students, one can argue that schools should provide students with ergonomic classroom chairs. However, this might not be possible for various reasons. One reason that hinders schools from providing students with ergonomic chairs is the cost. Chairs with adjustable features are very costly. Many schools cannot afford to invest in such chairs.
Another reason why schools cannot provide ergonomic chairs is to ensure concentration of students. Students can be hard to control when provided with ergonomic chairs. They would spend a lot of time playing with these chairs if they are provided in classrooms. They would spend most of their time moving up and down and tilting them back and forth. Maintaining discipline would be a challenge if these chairs are provided to students.
As such, the possibility of having ergonomic chairs is almost impossible for most schools. If anything can be done, administrators can just improve the current chairs. Chairs of varying heights can also be provided to cater for the needs of different students. For more information about chairs for use in classrooms you can visit BodyBilt.
