Is There Really Any Need For The Bulletproof Backpack?

Is There Really Any Need For The Bulletproof Backpack?

It sounds like something the Army would issue as part of the standard kit for their soldiers, but in fact the bulletproof backpack is a real item of kit that is now available for school children to take to school with them.

Is this an overreaction? Or merely a reaction in answer to the number of school related shootings that are growing at an alarming rate?

The Parents' Reaction

It's only natural that parents want to protect their children, and it seems that the bulletproof backpack is the latest way to do just that. It won't protect them fully, of course, but many people think that if even one or two children end up staying alive because of it, then this new invention is well worth buying.

Does It Look Any Different From A Normal Backpack?

In short, no - the idea is that the bulletproof backpack is indistinguishable from a standard school backpack. Not only would it protect the wearer from being shot, it also has the ability to protect them from a knife attack. Not only could the wearer be safer from an attack from behind, they could also hold up the bag in front of them to offer some protection if they were to be attacked from the front.

But despite the spate of school shooting which have occurred across America during the past few years, many parents seem to think that a bulletproof backpack is perhaps a cynical step too far. In a recent survey, only a third of those parents polled said that they would buy their own child a bulletproof backpack to go back to school with. That leaves a large majority of two thirds who think that in general, most kids are pretty safe at their school.

A Gap In The Market?

Perhaps in a few years time the bulletproof backpack will be an essential must have item, available for sale in all the major stores and on plenty of websites online. But people on the whole still need convincing that this type of backpack isn't just a way to make some money off the back of this series of school shootings.

Opinion at the moment remains divided. Perhaps the people who are going to buy a bulletproof backpack for their child are the people who live in areas that are more unsettled, and experience a higher level of crime and unrest than other areas.

Only time will tell whether the bulletproof backpack is here to stay.