It's back to school time for all the kiddies. Have you gotten your paper, pencils, erasers and Kevlar-lined back packs yet? That's right, you heard correctly ... I said Kevlar-lined as in bullet-proof.
Two dads in Massachusetts started developing the back packs after the shootings at Columbine HS, and now they are ready for the market. These back packs retail for $175.00 and can protect your child from bullets up to a 9mm in size. They also offer protection against knives.
My question is, how did we let it get this far? The gun-control lobby would say it is all the fault of guns. The NRA would say, "guns don't kill people ... people kill people", but I say ... I really don't know. I guess on a very basic level it is the result of a lack of parenting. Yeah, sure, kids are being desensitized to violence by television, video games and the internet ... but who is monitoring what our kids are exposed to?
I can definitely tell you that I won't be buying these back packs for my grand kids. I have 8 grandchildren and to tell you the truth, since they go through back packs at least yearly ... I can't afford it. But if I was in a better position financially, I just might buy them. What are your feelings?
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30 comments:
my biggest problem with trying to respond to your blog on kids and guns/knives is geography. In some states I'm sure there are not many problems with students carrying weapons, in other locaations shakedowns are necessay to determine who is carrying.....I worked with the juvenile population for many years in a professional capacity and I can say unequivically, guns were not a problem, now knives that's another story, they were carried, and when they were found they were confuscated.....I will add, Bullying was a problem and I still do not think it has been stopped. Many times I intervened on behalf of juveniles to school administrators. Bullying was deemed as one of the causes of the Colorado disaster.
tapline ... but the thing is, there has always been bullying. Why is it now acceptable to solve bullying by going on a shooting rampage?
SIMPLE SOLUTION TO A COMPLEX ISSUE
Bully-free/shooting-free = Home Schooling.
Have a TEXAS size evening !!!
I must have been under the "proverbial basket"...I haven't heard of this one!
Daughter and S-I-L are putting the two young grandchildren in a private Christian school for this year...hoping to get away from potential danger. I think they'll be disillusioned...bad things happen there also. But at least they're trying.
Next step will be home-schooling just as tlrb suggested.
Now...back to your question. What do I think about the back packs? Yes, I would probably buy them considering the area in which the grandchildren go to school.(Houston)
It' just a shame our society has come to this....
i wouldn't bother. in the schools our kids go to they are not allowed to carry their bags around all day, only when they come in and when they leave. the rest of the day they have to carry their books and folders in their arms.
wow u are grandfather!?
i bought a travel bag at eddie bauer jpn, costed me abt $80.
they said it is bullet-proof.
we dont have that gun problem though. now i understand that why they said so. thanks paul-chan!!
I guess they are only good if someone is going to shoot you in the back or you have time to shield yourself. I wouldn't spend the money at this point in time. I saw an articel a while back about strengthening some kind of clothing to be armor. At the time of the article it could keep an arrow from penetrating. Now if that got developed better I might consider that as an option.
I find it incredibly sad that a child's backpack would need to be bulletproof! :(
I guess that will have to do until they invent the personal force field...:( One fruitcake should not have the power of fear over thousands!
Wow...makes that L.L. Bean backpack I've been eying seem pretty shabby...
--snow
Ugh.. I wouldn't buy one...
I am going to be homeschooling Matthew.... our school system is (I think) 47th in the nation...
Mike has quite a few books here.. he's read a couple...
We were planning on homeschooling even before we had a medically fragile little fella.
A couple of the police families have a homeschool group. I'm very excited.
Mike has some HOMESCHOOLING books.
**I have 8 grandchildren and to tell you the truth
u do? but Paul arent u just 40 something?
Keshi.
Well...I suppose better safe than sorry...but it's only going to protect your child against bullets in one part of his body...and what are the odds. I guess the goal is that if someone starts shooting, the child could use the backpack as a shield?
Geez, even thinking about that is giving me the creeps!
1st off...I can't get over teh fact that you have grandchildren! 2nd...taht is so fucking sad! 3rd...There has to be a bettter way!
I certainly agree about the parenting bit! We do need to control the exposure to such mindless violence. It may be difficult with the peer pressure & all, but not impossible.
I would never buy sucha thing either. that is like commercialising on a very grave issue & it is in poor taste!
tlrb ... but what about those that can not Home School because both parents are working or they are single parents? We really do need a public school system that works.
inspired ... agreed, it is a shame it has come to this.
lime ... what a strange rule you guys have about backpacks. In our schools, the kids always have their backpacks nearby (if not with them).
niki ... I was unaware that Eddie Bauer made bullet-proof back packs. I will have to check into it (since the price is almost half).
david ... The idea of these back packs is that you can also wear them in front of you if needed as a shield. Bullet-proof clothing seems like a great idea ... but if it were available given our present technology, I'm sure the military would already have it ... and I don't think they do.
akelamalu ... I find it heartbreaking that the kids in Elementary school would have to go through a metal detector. But I guess it is a sign of the times.
buffalo ... no a personal force field might just be a good investment ... till they find an ammo that will penetrate it.
snow ... I'm sure if these become popular, LL Bean will offer one.
terri ... and I'm sure Mathew will have the best teachers in the world.
keshi ... I'm 46 and expecting my 9th grand-child later this month. My daughters (3) took the "be fruitful and multiply" passage in Genisis a little too seriously.
stephanie ... right you are, the two fathers that developed it were hoping that the kids could bring the backpacks up in front of them if they heard shooting ... so sad.
jenny ... hopefully there is a better way ... any suggestions? And what's wrong with having grand-children?
mona ... I don't know if the back packs are a result of parental fear ... or a couple of guys trying to capitalize on that fear.
but ummm, what if the attacker shoots or stabs from the front??
This is CRAZY. Soon there will be terminal style walk ways going from the school's doors to the buses and bullet proof glassed playgrounds.
By the time I have kids there will be only one solution - home schooling.
As a teacher in an inner city school, I have to tell you, NOTHING shocks me anymore.
I am amazed that even AFTER they go through the wands and detectors, they STILL get them in the schools!!! That is what blows my mind.
Last year we had a "girlfight" w/ knieves and I am here to tell you that MOST of the kids were really freaked. They were all talk and not so much action.
This idea that some states are worse or better is crap. It can happen in Idaho population 20 just as it could in LA. The difference is that in LA you EXPECT it....
I can just hear the "Dateline" or "20/20" special now! "Students saved w/ the backpack! They recount the horror tonight"
~shakes head~
I have said it before, sell, buy and have all the guns you want. Bullets should be illegal.
Brilliant, Superstar! I love the idea of outlawing bullets.
yeah price will be much cheaper in the States, coz we are paying huge import tax *tear*
home schooling is a good idea!!
Nothing wrong with grandkids...I just didn't think you were old enough to have em!
The problem is in the lack of parenting. And that is stemmed from governmental regulation to give all the power to the kids. The generations growing up now have no sense of discipline, and need a good spanking. That and doctors and lawyers need to quit blaming all the evils on society on childhood/abuses. And stop handing out medication like it's candy. All in all, our own government has established an anarchist mindset in the minds of the children today who have no sense of responsibility, consequence and punishment.
blanco ... the back pack is designed to be able to be held up in front of the child too.
random ... homeschooling is not the panacea some make it out to be. You have to be very careful to incorporate times when your kids can interact with others of their age-group, or you may get a child with anti-social problems or one that is too shy to interact in the real world. Public schooling accomplishes this (without even trying).
bambi ... (playing devil's advocate) When you make bullets illegal ... only criminals will own them. But seriously, gun laws need to be re-written and looked at with a bit of common sense.
gimme a sign ... do you have any idea how easy it is to make your own bullets? If they outlaw gunpowder ... that is easily made also.
niki ... The import taxes are a price you have to pay for your country's protectionist trade practices. If the taxes went away, no one would buy your country's products because they would be too expensive ... or they may have to lower the prices and the executives would have to take a pay cut ... so import taxes are a good thing ... jk
jenny ... well thank you sweetie, you make a broken down old man feel good.
ogre ... you don't have to hold back when commenting on this blog, you can tell us how you really feel. How do you feel about the ACLU (the ones really behind the empowerment of the kids and the empowerment of criminals)?
Hmmm... If they were not so expensive I might be persuaded to buy one. I agree with Akelamalu, it is incredibly sad that we even have to wonder if our children will be the target of a shooting at school.
terry ... I'm with you. Can think of lots of better ways to spend my money. But if they ever come up with bullet-proof clothing for the grand-kids ... damn the expense, I will take a second mortgage out on the house.
Oh, that´s really sad...
evalinn ... it is sad ... what is even sadder is that I think this is an attempt to play on the fears of parents in order to make a quick buck.
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