A new product is out called the Bodyguard blanket, designed to provide protection for children and teachers while at school. It's a bullet and tornado-projectile resistant item, resembling a yoga mat, that a child or adult can fasten around the shoulders and waist.
"When seconds count," touts the blanket's maker, ProTecht, LLC, "Bodyguard blanket can provide a quick, simple solution for maximum protection against a school intruder." The company's website says strong, layered materials in the blanket "catch" and deform a bullet and absorb much of its energy. The product comes in various sizes.
Chilling images of the blanket in use at Business Insider show children lining up in a hallway wearing the blanket, which nearly covers their heads while in a standing position. Another photo shows children huddling on the floor with the mats covering their torsos and heads.
The blanket's existence raises the matter of where we direct our attention to solve the complicated problems related to school shootings. Is a product like this merely profiting off our fear? Or is it a sign of a routine "new normal" for which every school should be prepared?
From the Business Insider article:
When our energy and creativity is being channeled in a way to create bulletproof nap mats for tiny children in their elementary school classrooms because it's a product every child could use, it's a sign that we've given up.
ProTecht also provided the video below:
On a related note, WNPR producer Tucker Ives points us to the bulletproof body armor clipboard available at ThinkGeek, with no lines drawn to school shootings.