While schools in Arizona are adding armed posses and schools in Connecticut are arming janitors, a Minnesota school has turned to bulletproof whiteboards as its last ditch defense against attackers. Two students died in a shooting in the Rocori School District in 2003 so the school has purchased 18-by-20-inch whiteboards that can be used by teachers for instruction or bullet protection.
Maryland-based Hardwire LLC is tapping into the near hysteria over school shootings, even though such shootings remains incredibly rare.
The boards are $109 a pop as opposed to normal white boards that cost as little as $23.
I must confess some skepticism on the practicality of a shield for a teacher. First, it appears to protect only one person and only from a frontal attack. The teacher would have to lose use of one hand and arm in managing children. The teacher would also have to find the board in the chaos of a shooting. The teacher would then be protected while the kids behind him or her would be exposed. The magic board strikes me as more of a psychological than practice protection for these reasons.
What do you think?
Source: USA Today
should say new forces.
Darren:
I was thinking about the bullet coming to an abrupt stop on the white board.
If I am thinking about this correctly, there isnt much energy imparted at hammer fall since the bullet is standing still. Once it is moving in the barrel the only forces on the weapon are friction and gravity as the recoil is already acting.
Bron:
Not usually. It would have to be a supremely large and fast bullet to be able to do that and even then it likely would just go through. While many people do collapse from the pain or effect of the impact, they are rarely thrown backward off their feet.
One way to visualize this is to consider nearly all small arms are either held in hand or shoulder fired. If the shooter wasn’t thrown back due to the recoil of the firearm the target shouldn’t be by the bullet itself. The bullet as it travels downrange has to contend with wind resistance and gravity and it decreases in kinetic energy as it confronts these forces. The shooter and the target also have the inertia of standing still and you have to account for the mass of the shooter or the target against the weight of the bullet and its acceleration/deceleration.
Many people think that flying back as it often seen on TV and such is what happens but it generally isn’t that way. The targets often are moved but not as significantly.
wouldnt the energy from a bullet knock a person off their feet?
OS,
Kinda like those 400$ hammers NASA bought…. They were special….
Frankly,
We are on the same page. The good stuff is prohibitively expensive, and a royal pain to wear. It only makes sense in a true combat situation.
You can buy a lot of building security for what a few good vests cost. And the whiteboard thing is one of the most idiotic proposals I have ever seen.
OS – you will not see police officers running around with ceramic plate armor anytime soon. It is a pain in the ass to wear. When the boy went to Afghanistan they were unable to provide decent vests. We spent a small fortune on dragon skin because thats what the brass wore despite forbidding the troops to wear it.. It would have helped if he had gotten hit by an AK47 round but it would not have prevented injury. The stuff Cops wear will not even stop a .22LR fired from a long barrel weapon. We had a conservation officer here in MN badly hurt that way.
BTW – the ceramic plates cannot withstand repeated hits anyway. A cop with a 9mm coming up against a loon with an assault riffle will go down hard while the pathetic 9 will most likely leave the attacker with a wound he can work through. Might kill him eventually but there have been guys in the ER with 8-9 9mm rounds that end up going home.
Porkchop & SwM,
Firearms safety and training courses may very well be the ONLY thing the NRA gets right.
So, are these Houston school principals are opposed to gun safety?
The NRA “Eddie Eagle” program teaches such controversial ideas to children as: “If you see a gun, don’t pick it up. Go tell an adult.”
I guess, coming from the NRA, that’s a bad idea Who knew?
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-preschool-elementary-cancel-NRA-gun-4476494.php Two Houston schools cancel gun safety classes after they learned of NRA involvement.
I agree with everyone who says this whole thing is silly and counterproductive. Better security is needed, not bulletproof vests and boards. This is not exactly the same as the need to put flotation devices under airplane seats.
Regarding better security, there is no such thing as 100% security. The idea is not to make it impossible for an intruder to come in. That is an unattainable goal. It should be as difficult as possible for unauthorized persons get get in, or if an intruder does break the perimeter, there should be barriers for roaming about freely. As far as armed security or armed staff, in most cases I am familiar with, that is the first person a gunman will try to kill.
Some school systems have CCTV video systems that rival Las Vegas casinos. They can even be accessed offsite by school administrators or law enforcement. Had a system like that been in place at Columbine, law enforcement would not have been so nervous about entering the building.
Elaine,
We do need to worry about the militarization of our schools when many have police walking the halls now and even more are turning school infractions into criminal infractions and sending students to jail.
Yet another in a long line of worthless government “knee-jerk”/”push-button” boondoggle solutions.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/16-frightening-nra-police-state-solutions-will-turn-our-schools-gun-crazy
Darren,
The whiteboard is also impractical for teaching. It’s way too small for large group instruction. It would also be difficult to use because of the three handles on the back.
Some people who comment on this blog have written of their fear of the militarization of police departments in this country. What I fear even more is the militarization of our schools.
Progressive idiocy strikes again
Industrious Fearmongers Introduce Bulletproof Whiteboards
By Jordyn Taylor 1/23
http://observer.com/2013/01/industrious-fear-mongers-introduce-bulletproof-whiteboards/
Since the Sandy Hook tragedy in December 2012, an increased number of students have been toting bulletproof backpacks to school. But how are teachers supposed to keep themselves safe in the event of a school shooting? Bulletproof whiteboards, of course.
That’s right: Maryland’s Pocomoke City-based Hardwire has developed a hand-held whiteboard that also functions as a bulletproof shield. According to the hardware company, the shield can stop bullets fired from a handgun at pointblank range.
“As teachers are doing their daily lesson plans, it’s in their hands. And if there’s a crisis, it’s in their hands,” said George Tunis, CEO of Pocomoke City-based Hardware. “Teachers are not first responders, but sometimes they’re thrust into that role.”
The whiteboards, which measure 18 by 20 inches and weigh a little less than four pounds, are big enough to cover a teacher’s head and torso (there’s no need for anything bigger—the students, presumably, will be shielding themselves with their bulletproof backpacks). Mr. Tunis said that in the event of a school shooting—five of which have occurred in the past six weeks—teachers could use the whiteboards to protect themselves under emergency services responded.
With the introduction of the bulletproof whiteboards, there is officially an industry of companies looking to cash in on parents’ fear. Bulletblocker, for example, a company that manufactures bulletproof backpacks, also sells “Bulletproof Clipboard Inserts” and “Bulletproof Defender Notebook Folios.”
What’ll be invented tomorrow? Bulletproof glass surrounding every desk? A junior line of Kevlar clothes? Justin Bieber stun guns?
How long before our schools lose all resemblance to places of learning and become full-blown prisons?
If the NRA gets its wish and schools start arming their teachers, the answer would appear to be … soon.
Because basic training can’t come too early in life…
… Be all you can be, right?
This whiteboard is completely impractical and I have to agree it is more the result of an entrepreneur trying to sell a product based upon fear. The way this item would be defeated would be for the shooter to simply walk around it and shoot the person behind, or shoot out the legs of the person and when they fell finish them off.
The most effective way as far as equipment goes would be to make concrete walls, bullet proof doors and windows equipped with a locking system that closed the doors and locked them during a lockdown situation. Trouble is, it would likely perhaps double the cost of the school or more for new construction and highly expensive to retrofit. Bottom line, do people want to pay extremely high construction costs and subsequently more taxes for the rare event that something like this will happen? And then are there going to be no situations where children are playing outside when someone goes on a rampage? Carry over the paranoia to teach every child to be in fear of their lives, what would be worse for society?
Or, in alternative, hire a police officer for every school in every town. Again, more money for little benefit. And how many children could be shot before the officer arrived? Guard every entrance? Come on. Unless of course people worry so unreasonably they want to “save the children” from every possible thing that could be bad. Put lightninng rods on every building, have each child wear a mask in the event they might spread bird flu, the list is nearly endless, but the chances are no different than ordinary life elsewhere.
Tony C,
Yep, and this is why Cheezus followers glow in the dark of their minds.
You should buy a truckload of whiteboards and sell it at a prophet [sic].
I mean, heck, parents do it to purteck those childurns who do learn …