I don’t know if this got very wide play on the internet, but it should have. At any rate, in Idaho, some girl brought a gun to school, was caught with it before anyone was shot or hurt, and the school, shocked by the development, made the prudent decision to do something about *checks notes* fucking bookbags:
Effective immediately, backpacks will no longer be allowed at secondary schools in Rigby.
Monica Pauley, a spokeswoman for Jefferson School District 251, tells EastIdahoNews.com this rule applies to Rigby Middle School, Farnsworth Middle School, and both Rigby and Jefferson High Schools.
“Elementary schools will still be able to have backpacks,” Pauley said. “We are doing this as a precautionary measure.”
This comes in response to an incident at Rigby Middle School Thursday morning, where an emotionally struggling 13-year-old girl was taken into custody after a gun was found in her backpack.
Students are being asked to carry their books to the school and place them in their lockers. Teachers and administrators are planning to assist students where needed.
The kids, not having any of this bullshit, responded in a way that you all here will appreciate:
@sav.bag innovation at its finest #iwantmybackpack #rigbyhighschool
Excellent. This went viral, as it should have, and the suits have adjusted the policy:
Students at Jefferson School District 251 secondary schools can now have clear backpacks after the district initially banned all bookbags last month.
The decision was announced in an email from Rigby Middle School Principal Richard Howard sent to parents Friday morning. A district spokesperson said further information will be released about all secondary schools in the near future.
“We are permitting clear backpacks to be used at Rigby Middle School to transport school materials to and from school,” Howard wrote in the email. “Backpacks may be inspected at any time by the school and are to be kept in student lockers during the school day.”
I assume it will be approximately ten minutes before someone puts all their shit in a gym bag and then puts the gym bag in.. a clear bookbag. Because that is what I would do.
At any rate, anything for our society to do anything about gun control. I do have faith, though, that the kids are going to deal with gun issues in the not so distant future (I have zero faith in my generation or those older than me), but I think the combination of a bunch of them being shot up in schools and another overstep by the radical right on the Supreme Court (who are about to fuck up once again on gun rights), will push things.
