New on back-to-school lists: bulletproof backpacks

Like the GPS-enabled school uniforms we wrote about earlier this month, the notion of bulletproof backpacks for students is sure to provoke mixed reaction.

Some people will call the invention an overreaction, while others will view it as a wise protective gadget. It's sad--and sobering--to think that a bulletproof backpack could prove a practical back-to-school purchase, but it's not so far-fetched an idea in these days of campus violence.

These backpacks contain a 20-ounce bulletproof panel.

(Credit: MJ Safety Solutions)

MJ Safety Solutions, a Massachusetts company run by three dads, has developed what it says is the first full-size, lightweight ballistic protection backpack that's affordable and practical for kids. The $175 My Child's Pack contains a 20-ounce bulletproof panel that the creators say can ward off 97 percent of bullets. The packs can be used to offer upper torso coverage on the back or as a shield for frontal protection of the head and upper body.

A video ad on YouTube shows the bags undergoing tests at the shooting range--to the tune of Neil Young's "Four Dead in Ohio."

[yacahuma]

Great Idea

I will buy one for my kid. The US is fertile ground for any stupid kid with an inferiority complex to start shouting. Guns are more accessible than candy in this country. I may buy one for myself too(Can I carry my laptop there?).

[Renegade Knight]

Agreed

It's a good idea, for one thing it's something you need anyway. Not so much in agreement with the rest of the rant.

[micheild]

all it needs is a parachute

If we need to bullet proof our children, it's certainly not a bad idea to enable with them the power to leap out of a burning building should the need arise.