Pencils. Check. Pens. Check. Notebooks. Check. Bulletproof backpack…
Not exactly the type of item you want to see on your child’s back-to-school shopping list, but a couple of entrepreneurs from Boston think it should be there.
If you thought a backpack’s main purpose was to be a fashion accessory, think again.
Joe Curran, of My Child’s PackIt, says backpacks should serve multiple purposes, including acting as a weapon in the war against school violence. Curran started the bag company shortly after the shootings at Columbine in 1999. He and his buddy Mike Pelonzi say the idea for the bulletproof backpack grew from watching and worrying about their own school age children. The men say they wanted to design a product that would act as a defensive mechanism in case one of their children was put in harm’s way; hence the idea to hide bulletproof material inside a backpack.
“If the kid has a backpack next to them, or under the desk, they can pick it up, the straps act as a handle and it becomes a shield,” Curran recently explained to news reporters.
After three years of experimenting, the men came up with a bag that weighs much less than a 15-pound bulletproof vest traditionally worn by police officers. The bags were then sent to a lab where they were given a threat level two ranking, which means they are able to stop an assortment of bullets, including 9-millimeter hollow point bullets. Once the production is finalized the bulletproof backpacks will sell for $175.
As for critics’ who contend that the bags play upon parents’ paranoia, Curran has this to say:
“I want to keep my kid safe. I don’t care what you do, but my kids are going to be safe because of these backpacks.”
Would you consider buying a bulletproof backpack for your child?
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