Story Archive

Protect the Children — 21st Century Method

Florida Christian School, a private school in Miami-Dade, wanted to improve security in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut. They hired George Gulla, 55, who leveraged 27 years of law enforcement experience to develop new security measures, including active shooter drills. During those drills, students were told to put their backpacks on their chests to protect their center mass. “While books and stuff in your backpack may stop a bullet,” parent Alex Cejas said, “they’re not designed to. I wouldn’t bet my life on it.” Cejas, who previously founded the body armor company Applied Fiber Concepts, developed a lightweight, bulletproof insert for student backpacks. Those now can be purchased on the school’s website — for $120. While the drills and technology have their critics, and Florida Christian has never had a gun incident, Gulla sees them as a part of a much larger security puzzle. “It’s out of the norm, but what is the norm?” he asked. (MS/Miami Herald) ...The norms have changed since we were kids.