School districts require clear backpacks and install detectors to find weapons

Fears of school shootings are prompting school districts across the country to adopt new safety protocols, including banning backpacks and installing weapons detectors in school entrances.

Beginning next school year, students in Broward County Public Schools in Florida will only be allowed to wear clear backpacks, the school district announced in a recent statement. The school district was the site of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where 17 people were killed by a lone gunman.

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In a statement, Broward interim superintendent Earlean Smiley said the see-through backpacks provided extra security that “is a game-changer.

“Providing safe learning environments that are conducive to student learning is of the highest importance, not just for Broward County Public Schools but for school districts across the nation,” Smiley said. “[This policy] will allow school security personnel and everyone on campus to quickly spot and report if someone has brought a prohibited item to school, and it will also help serve as a deterrent.”

In Flint, Michigan, officials have taken a step further and completely banned backpacks through at least the end of the school year. Small purses, lunchboxes, and clear bags for gym clothes “will be allowed within reason” but are subject to search.

In a statement to the school district, Flint Community Schools Superintendent Kevelin Jones said that the measure was necessary to ensure student safety, and that clear backpacks do not sufficiently address the issue of students bringing prohibited items to school grounds.

“Across the country, we have seen an increase in threatening behavior and contraband, including weapons, being brought into schools at all levels,” Jones said. “Backpacks make it easier for students to hide weapons, which can be disassembled and harder to identify or hidden in pockets, inside books, or under other items. Clear backpacks do not completely fix this issue. By banning backpacks altogether and adding an increased security presence across the district, we can better control what is being brought into our buildings.”

In Prince William County, Virginia, the school board voted last week to install weapons detectors in the entrances of its middle schools and high schools. The detectors from Evolv Technology are similar to metal detectors but detect weapons.

“The safety of everyone in our schools is the board’s highest priority. Tonight’s investment in the Evolv Weapons Detection System is the latest demonstration of our commitment to safer schools,” Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef said, according to FOX 5. “This detection system enhances current security measures and is critical as we work to improve the safety of our students and staff members.”

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Max Eden, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, told the Washington Examiner that instead of banning backpacks, schools should focus on enforcing existing rules and engaging with law enforcement if a crime is committed.

“Before school districts ban backpacks, they should do the basics: enforce discipline, record student behavior, conduct threat assessments on troubled students, and refer suspected criminal activity to law enforcement,” Eden said. “We’re seeing schools deprive kids of the ability to carry books because schools refuse to enforce the rules.”