Amid a slew of school shootings in recent years, schools are sadly forced to prepare their students for the future in unique ways.
Fox 29 reports that eighth-graders at St. Cornelius Catholic School in Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania were gifted with bulletproof inserts that can turn their backpacks into bulletproof vests in the event of a school shooter.
The vests were a special donation from Unequal Technologies after Principal Barbara Rosini requested the ballistic armor. Unequal Technologies CEO Robert Vito, whose daughter attends the school, also sent along 25 additional plates that were doled out to school faculty.
“It’ll stop the most powerful handguns in the world,” Vito assured. “We went to the military testing ground and said break this. They shot it with shotguns, buckshots, slugs and could not penetrate it.”
However, armor expert Aaron Westrick from the Ballistic Armor Research Group says the vests are no defense against the assault weapons or rifles mass shooters typically use. “The chances of a ballistic backpack coming into play during an attack or saving a child from injury are slim,” Westrick said.
Thought students and teachers have sat with the reality of having to own this form of protection, everyone involved, including student Jake Nicosia, hopes these kids never have to wear it anyway.