Current Events > Man shoots 21 children; solution? Make older kids wear see-through backpacks

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/18/us/dallas-school-district-requires-clear-backpacks/index.html

The Dallas school district announced Monday that it will require students to carry clear or mesh backpacks to class, joining other Texas districts in implementing new security measures following the Uvalde school massacre.
The new rules apply to 6th-12th grade students at Dallas Independent School District -- the second-largest public school district in Texas -- and will take effect when the upcoming 2022-2023 school year begins in August. Other types of bags will no longer be allowed, according to the school district.
"We acknowledge that clear or mesh backpacks alone will not eliminate safety concerns," the district said in its announcement. "This is merely one of several steps in the district's comprehensive plan to better ensure student and staff safety."
The district has already purchased the clear bags, and is set to distribute them before the start of the school year, the statement said.
The decision was made based on feedback from students and parents, as well as recommendations from a safety task force at the district, the district said.
The backpack requirements in Dallas follow fresh scrutiny of safety measures after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside Robb Elementary in Uvalde on May 24, the second-deadliest shooting at a K-12 school in the US.
The Dallas school district isn't the only one in Texas stepping up security measures.
Last week, a school district in Seguin, near San Antonio, said it would move to a clear backpack policy for middle and high school students in the new school year.
A school district in Greenville, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas, announced in early June a shift to clear backpacks and that it would implement additional security measures for the upcoming year, which include keeping classroom doors locked at all times and limiting access points into its schools.
"This common-sense measure is becoming more common at both school and public events," the Greenville district website noted.
The Southside Independent School District in San Antonio, the Harper Independent School District, about 90 miles northwest of San Antonio, and Ingleside Independent School District near Corpus Christi all made similar decisions last month.
Clear backpack mandates aren't new to US campuses.
After the 2018 shooting that claimed the lives of 14 students and three adults at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students were required to carry clear backpacks when they returned to school after spring break.
Several Parkland students criticized the policy as being an ineffective security measure and expressed privacy concerns over the rules. The requirement was scrapped a few months later.
In Texas, several of the districts have specified that students will be able to carry small non-transparent pouches in their backpacks to hold personal items like money and hygiene products.
School shootings in the US reached a 20-year high in 2021, with 93 school shootings reported according to federal data cited in a report by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Some students have to pass through metal detectors when they get to school every morning, and many around the nation undergo active-shooter training.
And after the Parkland shooting, retailers reported a surge in sales of bulletproof backpacks.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott last month announced $105.5 million to support additional school safety and mental health initiatives through August 31, 2023.
The funding will provide money for bullet-resistant shields and for Texas school districts to buy silent panic alert technology, among other measures, the governor's office said last month.

Life is a joke.

Can't actually do anything that would make a real goddamned difference.

It's like having your house flood constantly from bad plumbing but your solution is to shut the windows to keep the rain out

They did this shit to us back in middle school (1999 - 2002), as if that would have stopped anything.

I.. what... just...

My brain overloaded from the sheer stupid.

Solar_Crimson posted...

They did this shit to us back in middle school (1999 - 2002), as if that would have stopped anything.

"A teacher will clearly see the gun hiding in Tommy's backpack!"

wackyteen posted...

"A teacher will clearly see the gun hiding in Tommy's backpack!"

Meanwhile Tommy has a gun in his pants or coat pocket or hoody pocket.

strapping kids with kevlar and bullet proof vest would work better methinks

So how would this have prevented the Uvalde shooting?

WingsOfGood posted...

strapping kids with kevlar and bullet proof vest would work better methinks

I got a better idea:

School uniforms
Military-grade combat helmets
Military-grade body armor
Elbow pads
Knee pads
Combat boots

That way by the time they're 18, they've already gotten 13 years of wearing military gear and thus they're military ready!

It's a conservatives wet dream

Conservatives love taking away privacy

maybe have tons of drones flying around the outside of the schools

also give the constable that works with the school an armored personnel carrier (apc)

Foppe posted...

So how would this have prevented the Uvalde shooting?

It wouldn't, none of these bullshit responses do anything to actually help or reduce the occurrence of these tragedies

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/8/AAbVz1AADeCw.jpg

Topics like these remind me that a large portion of the US didnt go through airport like screening just to get inside their school with metal detectors and putting your bookbag in a conveyer belt like kids in the hood have to do in US.

I was even getting stopped and frisked in those days just walking down the street in NYC.

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

Conservatives love taking away privacy

Government small enough to fit in your backpack

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Honestly I'd say this does more harm than good.

It encourages people who'd want to engage in a (mass) shooting to find either more creative ways to hide/sneak their weapons or to say fuck it and

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


I went to school in an ubran area so I a bit out of loop with how much of a massive difference the middle/class rich people go through.

Did the Uvalde school have classrooms anyone can enter in? Or did they have one of those card readers where the teacher swipes and after 15mins the door gets locked and no one can enter the room without being let in by teacher? I feel if people get shocked by see through backpacks getting locked out of class if you come in 15 minutes late probably isnt something most have to go through either.

BlueTigerLion posted...

I went to school in an ubran area so I a bit out of loop with how much of a massive difference the middle/class rich people go through.

Did the Uvalde school have classrooms anyone can enter in? Or did they have one of those card readers where the teacher swipes and after 15mins the door gets locked and no one can enter the room without being let in by teacher?

The door being 'locked' is the chief fucking bullshit reason they didn't take that shit stain out sooner.

"Oh we had to wait for the key"

Or that was one of the original stories at least

Why not just make a gun-free school zone...complete with signs?!
~Problem solved.

wackyteen posted...

The door being 'locked' is the chief fucking bullshit reason they didn't take that shit stain out sooner.

"Oh we had to wait for the key"

Or that was one of the original stories at least

I looked it up. AP news source which is a trusted source and found this....

https://apnews.com/article/politics-shootings-texas-school-safety-2c97d26b56e8b081aa725ee2235e4a3b

The Uvalde massacre began after the 18-year-old gunman entered the school through a door that could only be locked from the outside then got inside a classroom that had a busted lock, experts testified Tuesday. Securing doors has long been a focus of school safety drills, and the inability to do so during the May 24 attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead is raising alarms among experts and politicians. When doors are not secure, your first step, your first line of defense has now been eliminated, said Ken Trump, the president of the National School Safety and Security Services.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt said unlockable doors make lockdowns and shooter training worthless, adding that there was zero obstacle to the shooter.

What happened is horrible. But my screening experience I guess was way more harsh than see through backpacks. Like all the doors at my school get locked with exception for one entrance which has the metal detector screening and multiple security guards at it. This was in 2003-2005 before Virginia Tech even happened. And I got told my school was like that since the 80s.

Just stumbled upon this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zw5nsus4C8

Guy was a dean at a NYC school which had metal detectors went to a Florida district that was implementing them and was like he didnt like it he didnt want the schools to feel like prisons.

I'm reminded of the highways built through the POC/poor neighborhoods. People say that stuff negatively impacted them dont bring it to our neighborhood. Why not improve the life of those that have to go through it by removing it from the urban schools.

im honestly kinda sick at the notion of a metal detector instantly makes the school "feel like a prison". my old private school had them and a LOT of other security measures and it never felt like i was serving time (in that way). you had to go through one entering the school, but that was it. you could still go about the indoor areas as you like which looked like a normal school and everyone could leave like normal. if you wanted to come back in you went through the same 5 second process. it really was a non-issue.

Dark_Spiret posted...

im honestly kinda sick at the notion of a metal detector instantly makes the school "feel like a prison". my old private school had them and a LOT of other security measures and it never felt like i was serving time (in that way). you had to go through one entering the school, but that was it. you could still go about the indoor areas as you like which looked like a normal school and everyone could leave like normal. if you wanted to come back in you went through the same 5 second process. it really was a non-issue.

Yeah. The only objects I have that could ring the detector were my keys and belt. It only took a long time the first week of school but once people understood the process it generally took 5 minutes to get through the screening. If there was 25 people or less ahead of me.

It was generally a quick process

Nothing more common sense than requiring clear backpacks when the shooting in question wouldn't have been stopped if clear backpacks were required. Instead of idk doing something about guns.

Dark_Spiret posted...

im honestly kinda sick at the notion of a metal detector instantly makes the school "feel like a prison". my old private school had them and a LOT of other security measures and it never felt like i was serving time (in that way). you had to go through one entering the school, but that was it. you could still go about the indoor areas as you like which looked like a normal school and everyone could leave like normal. if you wanted to come back in you went through the same 5 second process. it really was a non-issue.

"The actual problem is you pointing out all the problems" will never hold up

Stop downplaying this nonsense.

Clear bags, metal detectors, armed guards and drones stalking children will not stop America's gun problems or hinder insane people who want to shoot up the school.

All it does is waste time, effort and resources to duck the problem and make school more miserable for students.

And to counter your ancedotel experience the college I went too became a nightmare when they installed metal detectors. It made it take much longer for everyone to get it and put everyone in a sour mood. The idea that "Well most people get used to it" would also be true if someone kicked you in the shins every morning. That's not a justification for doing utterly stupid harmful shit for no benefit.