My favorite part of going back-to-school shopping as a child was getting to pick out all my school supplies—Lisa Frank folders, pre-sharpened pencils, glittery pencil boxes. When my mom would take my sister and I to the low-income supply drive, I’d furrow my brow at the woman handing me a plastic grocery bag of pre-packaged goodies, annoyed that I couldn’t just choose my favorites from a splayed-out selection. This was the only time I ever really got to choose what my parents bought for me as a kid, and it was fun.
But now, updated lists for back-to-school supplies across the U.S. serve as sobering reminders that children aren’t just preparing to learn math, make crafts, and have nap time. They’re getting ready for potential violence, and the photos posted by parents and shoppers of this season’s hottest bulletproof school supplies solidifies the role that bulletproof materials have in schools.
Across Twitter, people are sharing images of bulletproof backpacks and backpack inserts that they’ve come across or received.
So this is what back-to-school shopping has come to pic.twitter.com/iVEEf0Tazg
— September Downing (@SeptD) July 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/SamHooper/status/1014333739294429184
“You know how sad it is to open up a kid’s backpack to grab his lunch and see a bulletproof shield? He’s in PRESCHOOL,” one Twitter user wrote, showing photos of what she identified to be a bulletproof backpack insert. “A preschooler should not have to be carrying this around in his backpack. Seeing this broke my heart.”
You know how sad it is to open up a kid’s backpack to grab his lunch and see a bulletproof shield? He’s in PRESCHOOL. A preschooler should not have to be carrying this around in his backpack. Seeing this broke my heart pic.twitter.com/gKfU9s9TNO
— angel baby • (@infinitelesss) July 25, 2018
One person shared a photo of a bulletproof backpack her father had bought her for her to use at work.
“It’s heavy and I’m so angry that it’s even needed,” the Twitter user, Calla Hales, wrote.
https://twitter.com/heyitscalla/status/1005896944080834562
Even months before school would start for many students, bulletproof backpacks were already on the move, even going out of stock on BulletBlocker, a bulletproof wares company.
https://twitter.com/susanpai/status/1005140786453852160
And across the U.S. news organizations are sharing pieces about gun shops selling backpack inserts, and bulletproof item manufacturers creating other school-related materials before kids go back in the fall, including ballistic shelters, and bulletproof door and window systems.
In the wake of recent school shootings such as Parkland, gun shops are selling bulletproof inserts designed to fit inside a student’s backpack. @CBS12 pic.twitter.com/XICzeoNb8m
— Al Pefley (@PefleyAlCBS12) July 19, 2018
A Minneapolis-based company was awarded a patent for its bulletproof door and window panel systems for schools. | https://t.co/mD0kdRdhGZ pic.twitter.com/ba4rkthGYS
— WCCO | CBS News Minnesota (@WCCO) July 26, 2018
CCSD to install bulletproof doors in schools as pilot program for 2018-19 school year https://t.co/UCHC9RJ1yU #chsnews pic.twitter.com/yEFxEoZZuq
— Patrick Phillips | Live5News (@PatrickDotWeb) June 28, 2018
This program was recently launched, and Charleston, SC will be the first in the country to launch these doors
— SyllabusMag (@SyllabusMag) June 28, 2018
The estimated amount of doors we would need for the district is between 8000-10,000 doors at a cost of $4,000 per door
A firm is now selling bulletproof clipboards to U.S. schools and we aren’t even kidding. pic.twitter.com/PqjVWcv35P
— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 4, 2018
One school district, the Charleston County School District, is having bulletproof doors installed in a number of undisclosed schools, at no cost by manufacturer R2P, according to local music and culture publication Syllabus Mag. The district is reportedly the first in the country to launch such a program, and if it were to choose to replace all doors, it would require 8,000 to 10,000 doors at $4,000 a piece.
In November, a Florida private school went viral after announcing it would sell bulletproof backpack inserts for $120 each. The announcement came within days after the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting, and less than two months after the Las Vegas shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S.
