With all the books, supplies, and clothing children need for back-to-school, this year’s hot item is the bulletproof backpack. Ballistic Bookbags were developed by two Massachusetts dads, Mike Pelonzi and Joe Curran, and the number of units sold so far has been higher than they expected. At $175 each, they cost about ten times what I spent on backpacks this year. Is the paranoia inherent in this type of product worth it? The advertising video for Ballistic Bookbags is enough to give you nightmares.
You can’t put a price on a child’s life, but the odds of getting shot at school are about one in two million. Statistically, children are less likely to be murdered at school than anywhere else they go. My prediction is that sales of this product will be closely tied to any other occurances of school shootings. I almost added “and how much publicity it will get,” but we can assume that any school shooting will receive maximum national exposure. If you go by actual odds, the most effective thing you can do to save your child’s life is to teach them to look both ways before crossing the street, and to always make sure they buckle their safety belt in a vehicle. Accidents (mostly auto accidents) are still the number one cause of death for children over the age of one.
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With all the books in the average kid’s backpack, I’d think that’d be at least if not more protection than 1 cm of Kevlar.
This is just another way of making money off peoples’ paranoia.
posted by Doc on 8-21-2007 at 7:25 am
If you are that safety-paranoid do this instead:
For the same $175, you could be a very nice full-face motorcycle or auto racing helmet and have the kid wear it ALL THE TIME while in the car. The amount of risk reduction in the kid’s life would probably be about 1000x greater than the backpack for the same $. I’m being a bit facetious, but I also think I’m accurate.
posted by Sid Morrison on 8-21-2007 at 7:34 am
This is worse than executive parachutes for sky scrapers sold after 9/11. Profiting from fear after tragedies is the lowest form of capitalism.
Life jackets, bike helmet, etc. are good. This is sick.
posted by William on 8-21-2007 at 7:45 am
Actually, the video claims it’s -bullet resistant-. They’re hawking this backpack and it isn’t even definitely going to WORK at preventing bullet penetration? Wow.
A+ for the marketing guys, though… way to make money.
posted by Jack on 8-21-2007 at 8:32 am
Honestly! What good is a bulletproof backback going to do?? Most schools don’t allow kids to carry around bookbags, so a lot of good it’s going to do sitting around in a locker. I just can’t see some gunman coming and shooting at kids through their backpacks. I just can’t. I agree with Doc and William – shame on these guys for capitalizing on fear and paranoia without a real claim to providing protection.
posted by Lindsay D on 8-21-2007 at 9:36 am
1cm of Kevlar wouldn’t really do much in stopping a bullet from tearing right through you.
“…but we can assume that any school shooting will receive maximum national exposure.”
I guess a lot of people still think that, but it’s untrue. Where I grew up, shootings/stabbings in the inner city schools (though not where I actually went to school, only one kid was killed violently in the highschool I attended) were almost monthly due to gang violence. We barely even heard about it on the local news.
posted by Ian on 8-21-2007 at 11:42 am
THANK YOU! I was so disgusted over the thinking of these backpack creators that I wrote them an email telling them what I thought of their so called *protection* vests. Way to make your kids paranoid! I actually have a friend who has a 15 year old son that refuses to stay home alone or answer the phone…he thinks someone will steal him. …Yep, only child, paranoid mother. These vests are rediculous. The price is rediculous and statistically how anyone could think these the vest would add *safety* to their child’s life is beyond me. And let’s not forget..statistically, what is the chance the child would even THINK about or have TIME to use the vest??? A terrible product that will rely on paranoid, non thinkers everywhere…Seriously.
posted by LEA on 8-28-2007 at 4:35 pm