Students at Stoneman Douglas High have returned to class for the final quarter of their schooling year, to find a raft of baffling “security” measures implemented at the school, all of which have been implemented in a bid to prevent another mass shooting from happening. And very few of them are having a bar of it, particularly their new mandatory clear backpacks.
The High School was the site of America’s latest horrific mass shooting incident, allegedly perpetrated by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, who marched through the school on February 14th firing a high-powered assault rifle, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others.
Survivors of the shooting have subsequently begun a heightened push for gun control legislation, heaping pressure on dogged, old Conservative politicians who willingly reside in the back-pocket of the increasingly-cornered NRA; these students founded and lead the March For Our Lives protests, which collectively drew an estimated 2 million people across American cities on March 24th.
During Spring Break, school district officials enacted a number of different security measures at the high school, including increased presence from Florida Highway Patrol officers, identification cards for students, bag checks, and fenced lines leading into the school.
But the weirdest measure of all comes in the form of clear backpacks, issued to all students at no cost and deemed mandatory by school officials.
They have not gone down well.
Students have been widely dragging the backpacks on social media, asserting they protect precisely no one from anything, and serve only as a massive invasion of personal privacy.
And that, they are pic.twitter.com/QuqOt1V4aU
— Kyra Parrow 🦋 (@longlivekcx) April 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/lexforchange/status/980884006517518336
Starting off the last quarter of senior year right, with a good ol’ violation of privacy! pic.twitter.com/Glf9C14dsq
— Delaney Tarr (@delaneytarr) April 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/xotyahmarie/status/980810506532478977
https://twitter.com/giu0807/status/980806391224029185
My new backpack is almost as transparent as the NRA’s agenda.
I feel sooo safe now.
As much as I appreciate the effort we as a country need to focus on the real issue instead of turning our schools into prisons. #clearbackpacks #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/HqBIeGjzF9
— Lauren Hogg (@lauren_hoggs) April 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/xo_karmin_ox/status/980832580156223491
Ok but how are clear backpacks going to protect douglas kids from an AR-15
— Kyra Parrow 🦋 (@longlivekcx) April 2, 2018
Tomorrow we will have to go through security check points and be given clear backpacks, my school is starting to feel like a prison.
— Sarah Chadwick (@Sarahchadwickk) April 2, 2018
Nothing beats a morning walk through fenced lines with a bag check! Where am I, again? pic.twitter.com/6gDPs8zZ3Q
— Delaney Tarr (@delaneytarr) April 2, 2018
Thousands of clear backpacks were donated to MSD…it’s a shame b/c they should’ve been given to a school that actually needs the supplies. But since we’re stuck with them, I decided to make the most out of the situation & decorate!! 👊🏼#MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/dgW7uNN536
— Jaclyn Corin (@JaclynCorin) April 2, 2018
🙂 @marcorubio pic.twitter.com/eBmB9Tz9uB
— Delaney Tarr (@delaneytarr) April 2, 2018
Regarding that last photo, students have been subtly protesting the backpacks by placing a price tag of $1.05 on them; a nod to Floridian Senator Marco Rubio receiving US$3.3million in campaign contributions from the NRA, equating to around $1.05 for each of Florida’s approximate 3.1 million students.
Despite public debates and consistent questioning, Rubio has yet to directly address any of the queries or concerns put for by surviving students.
