The average sixth grade student carries more than eighteen pounds of textbooks. Some students carry up to thirty pounds of textbooks. This immense burden has led to over 14,000 students being treated each year for backpack-related injuries alone. Each year the United States spends more than $7 billion on textbooks for K-12 students. If all schools switched from textbooks to tablets, the government would save over $3 billion a year. Every year a middle school uses 5,955,000 sheets of paper, equal to 74 trees. There are 98,817 public schools in America. This means that American schools destroy 7,312,458 trees per year. The US Department of Education has shown that students learn 30-80% faster when using tablets (Federal Communications Commission). Many problems could be saved if schools no longer used textbooks. Tablets would be a greater benefit to schools than textbooks because they are cheaper, better for the environment, and help students learn more material faster. Every year the government spends $7 billion because schools don't have tablets, but what are they for? cost schools? The middle school spends $50,000 a year on paper and ink (Paper and Pencil Curriculum). If all students used tablets, schools would have virtually no need for paper. Homework can be assigned on computers, tests can be taken online, and students can study from their tablets. One of the main arguments in favor of tablets is the fact that textbooks are so expensive. The average cost of a textbook in the 2011-2012 school year was $68. The average price of a digital textbook in the same year was just $8 (Textbook FAQ). This would not only save schools a lot of money, but it would also save students money. Studen... half the paper... the next day. Another great thing about tablets is the unknown. New technology is constantly being created and improved; textbooks on the other hand were used by the Greeks. All in all, the choice is obvious. It's easy to see that the upside of tablets far outweighs the upside of textbooks. Textbooks are bulky and can hurt students. As mentioned above, textbooks destroy 7,312,458 trees per year. Furthermore, textbooks are obsolete, inefficient and expensive. Tablets are cheaper, perform better, and increase students' interest in what they are learning. Additionally, students will be prepared for a world where they will be surrounded by technology. Tablets would have a greater benefit to schools than textbooks because they are cheaper than textbooks, tablets are better for the environment than textbooks, and tablets help students learn more material. Faster.