US school selling bulletproof panels for kids' backpacks

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Press Trust of India Washington
Last Updated : Nov 08 2017 | 6:42 PM IST
Bulletproof panels for the kids' backpacks - this unusual item is being offered to parents for sale by a private school in the US state of Florida.
The Florida Christian School in Miami has put on its website a list of items for purchase that includes red school logo T-shirts, winter wear and ballistic panels, CNN reported.
The cost of the bulletproof panels is USD 120.
The school's move comes amid a series of deadly shootings in the US in recent weeks. The school has never witnessed a shooting incident.
The bulletproof panels would add "another level of protection" to students of the pre-K through grade 12 school "in the event of an active shooter", the dean of students and head of school security at Florida Christian School, George Gulla, was quoted as saying by the channel.
Gulla said the teachers are trained to instruct the students to use their backpacks as a shield to protect themselves.
Earlier this month, a court-martialled former US Air Force airman sprayed bullets on worshippers at a Sunday service at a rural church in Texas, killing at least 26 people, including 12-14 children.
Last month, a gunman in Las Vegas opened fire on an outdoor music festival, killing 58 people.
In 2013, months after the mass shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, a Maryland university made the decision to invest in bulletproof whiteboards.
The University of Maryland-Eastern Shore purchased 200 of the whiteboards, citing the deadly Newtown shooting as the deciding factor.
Whiteboards and backpacks are not the only bulletproof items available in the wake of mass shootings.
There is an entire industry dedicated to the manufacture of bulletproof products. These include notebooks, computer briefcases, barrier blankets, furniture, and even underwear.

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First Published: Nov 08 2017 | 6:42 PM IST