Accomack County, Va. – The Accomack County School Board is considering new safety measures for the upcoming school year. During their meeting Tuesday night, the Board discussed the potential implementation of clear backpacks for all students. The proposal, still under review, aims to streamline school security procedures and ensure quick identification of items that might trigger metal detectors. Under the proposed policy, all students would be required to use fully transparent backpacks, with no solid-colored or partially clear bags allowed. The goal is to speed up security checks, which can be time-consuming when hundreds of students pass through metal detectors each morning. Clear backpacks would allow security personnel to quickly inspect bags and identify potential threats. In addition to the clear backpack requirement, the proposal would prohibit students from bringing metal or hard plastic drink containers. Only clear, disposable water bottles—whether sealed or empty—would be permitted. The new rules would also include a program to provide clear backpacks for students who cannot afford them. The School Board will continue to evaluate the proposal after receiving more community feedback, with a final decision expected in the coming months.
The idea of having clear book bags is unnecessary and foolish. We have people check the backpacks, and the reason why things get by isn’t because of the bags; it’s because of the lazy adults. They open one zipper and then call it a day. It is also an invasion of our privacy. Girls are getting older and have other “things” they need, and people don’t need to see that. They’re also students who bring wallets to school; if they are completely visible, students can just grab and go with their possessions. If we also have clear book bags, they will be annoying not only because of size, shape, and sight. If it’s too small, we have a problem; if it’s too uncomfortable, we have another problem, and everyone will hate it.
Having clear bookbags may also cause a problem with whose bookbag is whose? If they look the same, kids can get confused, whether in the locker room, at lunch, or in any other class. If we have clear bookbags, then we need to change the schedule for locker changes, because I don’t want a clear bookbag, I think it’s foolish, but if we change the locker times for when we can go into our locker, I have no problem! But the locker times are in the morning, 7:05 – 7:30, and the end of the day, 12:45 – 12:47, and I think it should be in between each block, so students can, instead of having clear bookbags, they get to carry like 3 to 4 things and be fine! If we get clear bookbags, it’s not going to fix the issue. The real issue is: lazy adults, kids putting it in their shoes, and lunch boxes/computer cases. I hope you all don’t make clear bookbags a thing and put mine and every other complaint or support comment into consideration.
When I first heard about this clear bookbag rule, I was able to think of a ton of things wrong with it. First of all, what issue is this solving if we can still have opaque lunch boxes, purses, and coin purses? Exactly, none. People can just sneak whatever items they want in those. I also feel like it’s up to the bag check staff to make sure you don’t have anything you aren’t supposed to, when all they’re doing is opening your bag, looking inside, and closing it up. I believe that we need a staff enhancement for bag check instead of this stupid rule. Another issue with this is that you have no privacy whatsoever. People don’t need to see what’s in your backpack at all times. If they have something bad in their bag, that was an error by the bag check staff. Moving on to the water bottle rule, we need metal insulated water bottles. Nobody wants to drink their water when it’s been heated up all day in a plastic water bottle. We use our metal bottles to keep our water cold, and without them, our water isn’t as good. To wrap things up, this rule and the water bottle rule are both ridiculous, and I don’t think it’s necessary at all.