Students returning from spring break to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Monday were greeted with metal barriers and clear backpacks — new safety measures put in place in the wake of February’s mass shooting at the school.
More than 3,000 transparent backpacks and lanyards for identification cards were distributed to Stoneman Douglas students on Monday morning. Students were told to report to school without backpacks. Those carrying sports equipment or band instruments were asked to leave their items with teachers or coaches before the start of classes. Extra police officers have been stationed at the school since the Feb. 14 massacre.
School officials say the mandatory backpacks and entry checkpoints are temporary — part of a pilot safety program that may be expanded throughout the school district.
Many students mocked the backpacks in social media posts, with some attaching orange tags emblazoned with “$1.05” — an amount they say they got by dividing the amount of money Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has received from the National Rifle Association by the number of students enrolled in Florida’s schools.
“My new backpack is almost as transparent as the NRA’s agenda,” Lauren Hogg — a Stoneman Douglas freshman and younger sister of March for Our Lives organizer and senior David Hogg — tweeted.
Others compared the school check-in procedure to TSA lines at airports.
On Sunday night, Sarah Stricker, a freshman at the school, anticipated the reaction from one of her fellow students to the clear backpacks.a
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