The more things change, the more they shouldn't

This September will mark the first autumn since I can remember that I
don't have a kid returning to school. After reading a weekend story
about a new product parents can buy to supposedly better protect their
classroom-bound kids, I'm terribly appreciative of my new status as a
school-free parent.
Massachusetts-based MJ Safety Solutions has already sold out its
initial stock of -- get this -- bulletproof backpacks. Selling for $175
U.S., the ultimate in student protection isn't available in Canada but
it's only a matter of time.
The brains behind the product note not only does it protect kids from
being shot in the back but, when circumstances dictate, they can take
it off and shield the front of their body as well. Only in America, you
say? You say correctly, my friend.
Maybe it's a sign of aging but oh how I increasingly yearn for the days
when the wife and I equipped our kids for the return to school with a
new set of coloured pencils, a geometry set and duo-tang notebooks. You
know, the days when you could call an eraser a rubber and not be so
badly misconstrued.
That awful 1999 day in Littleton, Colorado, and too many equally tragic
days since, changed the landscape forever. No longer is a well-aimed
full milk carton in the back of the head the most serious threat. Kids
have guns and are using them with increasing regularity.
We like to think Canada is immune to that phenomenon but the reality is
much different. Another reality is when bulletproof backpacks make
there way to our neck of the woods, our paranoia, our well-intended
fear for our children's safety, will see them sell out quickly, despite
that voice in the back of our heads which asks, and rightly so, what
bloody good will they really do if something does happen.
Want to make your kids' school a safe environment for them and their
classmates? Every now and then, open their bedroom door and snoop
around. That's not only your right as a parent. It's your duty.