It’s back-to-school time so load up with those pencils, notebooks, rulers and, of course, a bullet-deflecting backpack, if you buy the pitch of the security accessory’s Danvers inventors.
Dads Mike Pelonzi, 43, and Joe Curran, 42, dreamed up the bullet-proof backpack, which also blunts knife attacks, to protect their own children after witnessing the Columbine massacre in 1999.
“It was after seeing what happened in Columbine that we started thinking about this. I’m a parent and so is Joe and we wanted a way of keeping kids safe at school and this is what we came up with,” said Pelonzi, co-owner of MJ Safety Solutions which produces ‘My Child’s Pack’.
The backpacks, which will cost $175, have a super-lightweight bullet-proof plate sewn into the back which weighs no more than a bottle of water. Pelonzi said the material used is a secret.
The plate material meets National Institute of Justice safety standards, said Pelonzi, and during a three-year testing phase, stood up to bullets as well as machete, hatchet and Ka-bar knife attacks.
from the Boston Herald
According to our yute expert, this is a terrible idea because the only kids who are going to be able to afford and/or need these units are drug dealers and gang members. My expert expects to see kids on corners wearing two – one on the front and one on the back. As he pointed out “It’s still cheaper than full body armor”. We’ll take his word for it….
September 21st, 2007 at 4:08 am
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Since when do we need to resort to this in America? Where are the values going?
V/r,
HDR
http://www.hdrjapan.com/
December 9th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Interesting to see the symptoms are dealt with and not the causes.
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 am
I think this is taking safety and security a little bit too far don’t you think?
March 17th, 2009 at 7:34 am
It is kind of sad that children need to resort to this, I grew up in NYC but it was nowhere near that bad when I was a kid.
I feel bad for this country sometimes.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I don’t think that safety should involve wearing a bulletproof backpack or other types of body armor all the time nor should it be mandatory for children to wear one in school or our loved ones at the workplace. However, we do believe that civilians, not just police, have the right to protect themselves or their loved ones, friends, family with a body armor that is effective against a deadly assault. It’s just so sad that we have to resort to this.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Its funny how everyone above me SELLS bulletproof armor but seems so concered to the point that they ONLY post a comment in order to gain promotion for that purpose……lol
September 9th, 2009 at 10:31 am
It’s terrible to see that we’re designing $175 Backpacks to be worn by our children when we should be focussing on beefing up the neighbourhood security!
October 30th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
$175 for a Backpack is ridiculous. Today I went shopping for Halloween costume for my children and they were $90!!!