30 Jul Why Placing A Doorstop In Your Child’s Backpack Could Save Their Life

Gun violence has become a part of day-to-day life in the United States. It seems that not even schools are a safe place to send our innocent young people anymore. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have already been 188 mass shootings this year alone. Thoughts and prayers are simply not enough.

So while we continue to wait for some real action or legislation relating to gun violence, particularly in schools, what can you do right now to help protect your loved ones? It turns out the answer might be as simple as placing a doorstop in your child’s backpack.

This simple action has been overlooked by many schools despite some trying to take matters into their own hands to prevent future tragedies.

Check out the video below to discover how US presidents have responded to school shootings:

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For example, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which was where the Parkland shooting took place, made headlines again this year when the school implemented a clear backpack policy for its students. The school lost 17 students and staff members when an attacker opened fire with an AR-15 rifle.

The backpacks, which were designed to prevent concealed weapons from entering school grounds, seem to be more of a gesture to show something was being done rather than actually being a practical solution.

Students were quick to point out that a handgun could still be hidden within a binder or pencil case, and the policy did little to prevent items from being concealed within musical instrument cases or sports equipment bags.

Furthermore, students protested the invasion of privacy – with many expressing concerns about being forced to openly display tampons and menstruation pads for all to see. Sums of money, laptop computers, tablets, and phones would also be made visible, causing vulnerable students to be made easy targets of for thieves.

The doorstop idea at least seems to do some good. A woman named Katie Cornelis first shared this safety hack with her nieces after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which claimed the lives of 20 children and staff. She says a security expert told her about the hack.

Now, after the Parkland shooting, she has been sharing the tip on her Facebook wall. The idea is that an active shooter could easily shoot out a door lock, but having a simple, inexpensive doorstop on hand would make it difficult for the shooter to enter a classroom and at least buy some time.

Cornelis also reveals that she carries a doorstop in her own purse and says that it is a small but powerful tool to have on hand if you ever find that you need to barricade yourself inside a room. She wants to share her tip with everyone but writes, “I pray no one ever has to use it.”

In response to Cornelis’s post, another woman on Facebook pointed out that these doorstops can also be used to keep doors open so that no one is left behind while holding a door open for others.

While this may not be a perfect solution, every little thing helps, especially at a time when mass shootings are increasing and the current president and administration seem to be doing little about it. Recently, NBC reported that while President Trump has made public statements about preventing gun violence, he has not actually enacted any of his plans.

It seems to be a common occurrence for Trump to tweet or make a public statement but then when one goes to actually check that action has been taken, it turns out that it has not happened. For example, after the mass shooting that killed ten people in Santa Fe, Texas earlier this year, Trump said the following:

“My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools, and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others. Everyone must work together, at every level of government, to keep our children safe.”

He also tweeted this year that he would push comprehensive background checks, raise the legal age to purchase a gun to 21, and end the sale of bump stocks, which is something that allowed the 2017 Los Vegas shooter to fire semi-automatic weapons at rapid speeds.

However, NBC News reports that the current administration has done none of these things. In fact, when it comes to raising the legal age to buy firearms, the White House didn’t even call on Congress but instead created a commission headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to simply consider the idea.

Trump has also flip-flopped on the idea of arming teachers, which is a very polarizing idea, and he has not seriously considered the strict gun control laws that have worked for so many other countries. While it is unknown for certain whether these laws would work for the United States, considering nothing else has, wouldn’t they be worth exploring?

Regardless, the topic of gun control has left the mainstream media and it would appear to many that the safety of our children is no longer a top priority for the current administration. If the past is any indicator it’s only a matter of time before the next mass shooting occurs, so wouldn’t you like to be as prepared as possible?

We may not be able to prevent mass shootings, but we can strive to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, and sometimes that means carrying a doorstop in our backpacks.

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