When I read about bulletproof or bullet-resistant backpacks for small children—no matter how practical and protective the acquisitions might be against mass shootings—I was compelled to ask: “Where are we going?!?”
Sadly, the first verse of William Wordsworth’s poem “We Are Seven” came immediately to mind:
“A simple child,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?”
It would be most helpful to hear the professional counsel of child psychiatrists and other specialists on this sudden introduction of small children to immediate lethal danger and its possible long-term effects on their minds.
As one parent has said about this sad reality: “We’re asking children to psychologically contort themselves and wretchedly shield their developing backs from crazed mass shooters because of the inaction of lawmakers and other leaders!”