Kevlar diapers and bulletproof backpacks
Following the lead of a few fathers outside of Boston who have begun selling bulletproof backpacks for school kids, I’m submitting a patent for Kevlar diapers. My design is actually a protection mechanism for parents against the explosive digestive tracts of young ones, while Joe Curran and Mike Pelonzi are selling My Child’s Pack ballistic bookbags to protect school-aged children.
While I’m joking about the diapers, these guys are serious about the backpacks. The pair got the idea for the bags after the Columbine school shootings, and have the packs on the market just in time for back to school shopping. Does this product play upon heightened media fear mongering? Very much so, that’s what marketing does. It plants a seed of doubt in your mind and plays with your emotions. On the flip side, does it provide a valid function of protecting your children? Most definitely.
The question of whether or not these packs are something you buy for your child becomes a balance of reasonable expectation with expendable cash. Is $175 not a big deal to spend on a backpack for you? Then why not buy it. Is there a reasonable expectation that your child will be shot at school? Not likely. However Columbine and Virginia Tech were not plagued by violence previous to the atrocities that happened there. Any one of the parents of students at those schools, even if not victims, would have gladly paid $175 had they known in advance what their children would be subjected to.
This YouTube video demonstrates Glock 9mm ballistics tests and impressively, the round does not penetrate the backpack. Granted, your child’s ribs may be broken from the impact, but I’d trade any number of cracked ribs for the alternative.
In the process of writing this post I considered whether or not I would buy one. And yes, I would, but I tend to be hyper-protective of my loved ones, which is also the reason I’ve registered for the Graco MAV (medium armored vehicle) stroller.
Would you buy one for your kid?
$175 is too much to spend on a kid’s school backpack.
They are statistically more likely to be hit by a meteorite than shot in another Columbine – or have their school bus blow up – or die of gas poisoning in the class room… all things which are vastly statistically unlikely.
Don’t send your kid out into the world with the message “It’s a dangerous place. I want you to be afraid of it.”
A regular bulletproof range from 400 to 600 so I’d perfer paying 175 for my kid and most parents spend 100 for kid’s shoe
phwooaar!!!
“most” parents have got rocks for brains then!
I’ll spend the money to get my kids basketball boots – or a good tennis racket – or proper dancing shoes – whatever… but the shoes they just wear to and from school so they can wear ‘em out?
nuh uh.
there’s a whole range for babies over at http://www.bulletproofbaby.net. bullet proof baby stroller anyone?
That site is hilarious! Someone has way too much time on their hands because that site looks very professional.
I guess you should re-evaluate your earlier statements about it being rare. 5 school shootings with deaths in the last 2 weeks sounds pretty scary to me. As a father, I think giving my kids bulletproof backpacks isn’t that crazy. You never know who is going to “lose it”. I bought a camo one for my son and an orange My Child’s Pack for my daughter. They said they already do “shooter drills” in their school, so “no big deal”. I applaud MJ Safety Solutions for keeping the price so low on such quality backpacks.
Hello,
I am looking for someone who actually owns one of these bags. I am a reporter with The Daily Helmsman newspaper at The U of M and I have been wanting to do a story on this for months now. The only catch is that my editor thinks it is a bad idea unless I find someone who actually owns one. So…if you or anyone you know owns a bag can you please email me at martina.ballard@hotmail.com so I can get your opinion about the bag.
Thanks,
Martina