Bulletproof backpacks are just the latest worthless feel-good gestures to protect schoolchildren.
Parents routinely line up to have their youngsters photographed, fingerprinted or implanted with identification microchips at neighborhood child-safety clinics.
But photos, prints and ID chips don’t keep children from being abducted, injured or killed. They only help to identify the remains, if found.
And metal-lined backpacks won’t stop bullets or knives aimed at the sides or front of torsos of any size. Only expensive, heavy flak vests provide some peace of mind.
No, the best way to protect children is to make them wary of strangers and to hit, kick, scream or run like hell if threatened by anyone.
Life is a crap shoot at best, And a bulletproof backpack isn’t even worth a toss. (21 OCTOBER 2007)
