While the question of whether or not children should accept the possibility of being murdered as a precondition of getting an education continues to be a perfectly reasonable topic of hot debate in the US, some people are looking past the problem and honing in on practical, real-world solutions.
And the one thing that every right-thinking person can agree upon is that guns don’t kill people: non-see-through backpacks do.
And this Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland – the site of the recent mass shooting that saw 17 people lose their lives – have instituted a ban on all bags that are not transparent. Problem solved!
Thousands of clear backpacks were donated to MSD…it’s a shame b/c they should’ve been given to a school that actually needs the supplies. But since we’re stuck with them, I decided to make the most out of the situation & decorate!! ??#MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/dgW7uNN536
— Jaclyn Corin (@JaclynCorin) April 2, 2018
Oddly, however, the students have not taken to this with enthusiasm, coming up with silly and childish counter arguments like “you can still hide guns in the things in the bags, you realise?” and “the person that shot up the place wasn’t even a current student and didn’t bring his weapons in via his school bag so how the actual hell is this meant to have protected us?” and also “how does us having transparent backpacks save kids in other schools, exactly, since this is a national problem?” Kids today, eh? Always selfishly thinking about themselves, and each other, and how not to be killed.
The students, therefore, have taken to putting stickers and slogans on their bags – almost as though they don’t want people to see absolutely everything they’re carrying around.
PSA: given these new clear backpacks, you will now be able to see that I have my phone charger with me. No, you cannot borrow it (you can’t have any gum either)
— Tyah-Amoy Roberts (@xotyahmarie) April 2, 2018
And look, we have to ask: if you’re a child worried about some complete stranger seeing your tampons or reading your name and address off a document you’ve failed to adequately disguise in your schoolbag, then what do you have to hide?
Still, since all the actual solutions – you know, like not letting absolutely everyone have access to firearms whenever they want to, for example – is off the table, then translucent plastic will have to do.