Marjory Stoneman Douglas will require students to carry only clear backpacks

[Initech]

When students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas return to class after spring break next week, they'll be required to carry clear backpacks.

The move is meant to ramp up security measures after last month's deadly shooting and a series of breaches since then.

"Clear backpacks are the only backpacks that will be permitted on campus," said Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie said in a letter sent to parents.

The district will provide the bags to students for free, he said.

In addition to the new backpack policy, students and school staff will also be required to wear IDs at all times while on campus.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/marjory-stoneman-douglas-will-require-students-to-carry-only-clear-backpacks/ar-BBKyWaY

Sigh... so the solution isn't fewer guns and better security - it's see through backpacks and IDs. Ain't life in the NRA's America great?

[ProfessorGAC]

1. So, The Victims Are To Blame?

Got it. People who just got shot at and saw 17 classmate murdered now have to buy new school stuff because a guy that USED to go the school shot the joint up.

Makes perfect sense.

[B2G]

7. First of all, many times the shootings are done by a STUDENT

at the school.

Secondly, the OP clearly states the backpacks will be provided for FREE.

While this might not make a whit of difference, I don't see what it can hurt.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Still Seems Like Victim Blaming

In THIS case, the shooter was not from the school. I get your point, but this seems an improper solution to me.

[B2G]

11. He was a former student.

Multiple actions are going to be required. There is no one single solution.

[mythology]

16. Female students may have hygiene products

Any student might have medication.

Also considering a student could put a gun in a lunch sack or wrap it in a shirt, this is meaningless.

It hurts in that it's stupid and useless but let's people who be doing something useful pretend they did something and move on without making meaningful changes.

[B2G]

17. So put those in a smaller bag inside.

And yes, a handgun could be concealed.

[Xipe Totec]

2. This is what we used when I was in elementary/middle/high school

Leather straps.

[Initech]

3. Yeah let's go old school!

And corporal punishment for those that don't comply!

[Xipe Totec]

14. You can use the straps for that.

However I think the objective here is to reduce the possibility of concealed weapons entering the campus.

[tonyt53]

4. Not really liking this step, but at least they are trying to keep them safe.

Until some sensible people are elected to state and national legislatures and get gun laws changed, something like this might help.

[spanone]

5. the NRA always win....their money is heroin to congress persons

[Initech]

9. Which as we're learning, came from Russia.

So if only there was a way we could cut dirty Russian money out of it. The NRA is a bully organization. If we cut off their money flow, we could stop them.

[oberliner]

6. Idiotic

We need to reduce access to guns, period.

[B2G]

8. And nothing else?

That's very short sighted.

Gun laws are not going to change overnight, and even if they did, a 'reduction' will not eliminate the problem completely.

[oberliner]

12. That should be the top priority - changing gun laws overnight

Requiring students to change their backpacks because their school got shot up and their classmates got killed is idiotic and will do nothing to make anyone safer.

It's like how they make us take off our shoes at the airport.

[moriah]

13. Glad they're at least paying for them.

The clear plastic and net bags are horrendously flimsy.

The Little Rock School District tried to demand them in the 90s and the policy was ended because of parents submitting bills for the costs of a new one every 9 weeks.

[sl8]

15. Slightly off-topic - "From 'Book Strap' To 'Burrito': A History Of The School Backpack"

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/11/02/445339503/from-book-strap-to-burrito-a-history-of-the-school-backpack



LA Johnson/NPR

From 'Book Strap' To 'Burrito': A History Of The School Backpack
November 2, 2015 8:38 AM ET
LEE HALE

My editor, Steve Drummond, isn't that old of a guy. He's from Michigan — Wayne Memorial High School, class of '79.

But when he starts talking about backpacks, he dips into a "back in my day" tone that makes you think of a creaky rocking chair and suspenders: "You know, Lee, when I was in school, no one had a backpack!

"You just carried your books in your arms." He says it like he's talking about sending a telegram with Morse code. "No one really thought about it, that's just what you did."

...

There have been security concerns, too — that backpacks can be used to smuggle weapons or drugs. Administrators at a few schools have gone so far as to require clear or mesh backpacks.


...

More at link

[Xipe Totec]

19. I actually had a scrolled leather school backpack for a while

The scrollwork was as intricate as any horse saddle. Leatherwork is a lost art.

Now days, that backpack would be worth in the thousands just for the artwork.

[Angry Dragon]

18. need micro chips, ID's tattooed on forearm