Parents buy bulletproof backpack shields to protect kids from school shooters amid gun violence epidemic in America
America's gun violence epidemic continues to be a major concern for parents sending their children to school, and now, some are turning to bulletproof backpacks. But will they keep your child safe in an emergency?
When it comes to back-to-school shopping, most parents buy things like crayons, rulers and calculators. But with the growing number of school shootings, Hillary McAfee said she had a ballistic-proof backpack shield at the top of her shopping list.
"If you have a school-aged child in America, this one's for you," McAfee said in a now-viral video posted to TikTok. "This is a ballistic-proof shield that belongs in my second-grade daughter's backpack."
McAfee's two children, ages 8 and 10, have kept the shields in their backpacks for years.
When she first explained the reason to her children, she says, she approached it in a similar way to the importance of wearing a seatbelt. Their responses went something like this.
"So his first questions were, 'Does my teacher know how to use it?' And, 'Do all my friends have one?' And, 'If my friends don't have one, can you buy one for all my friends?' Which is not normal for a 7-year-old to be concerned about the survival of his classmates," McAfee said. "My daughter, she was kinder, so really young. She asked if she could play with it, and then she asked if she could decorate it with stickers."
Nick Groat is the founder and CEO of Safe Life Defense, the Nevada-based company that makes the backpack shields.
"We do ship those out every single day," Groat said.
The gear is used by law enforcement and even some militaries internationally.
"The armor that was used in the video is our flexible rifle armor, and that will stop rounds out of an AR-15 and an AK-47," Groat said.
McAfee's TikTok video has more than 7 million views. The comments reflect a lot of shock from viewers, mostly from those who live in other countries.
School shootings continue to happen all over the country. Less than a month ago, shooters opened fire at Evergreen High School in Colorado and Annunciation Catholic School in Minnesota.
"We want active change. We're so tired. We are exhausted. We send our kids to school, and instead of real protection through policy, we're left buying shields for backpacks," McAfee said. "So, 7 million views on TikTok tells me that I'm not the only parent who's fed up with this."
