Clear backpacks now mandatory for all South River public school students

SOUTH RIVER, N.J. -- After so many mass shootings in schools, some districts are requiring students to use clear backpacks, and now, one school in Middlesex County has expanded the mandate from high school students to elementary and middle school.

A new school year has begun, and with it, renewed concerns about safety.

"Every day I worry. Not one day I don't worry," mother Andrea Pereira said.

"You never know where it's going to happen. It seems like it can happen anywhere," a student said.

As a result, students at all South River public schools are using clear backpacks, some for the first time.

"I was alright with it," one student said.

"If you don't hide nothing, I mean, it's OK," another student said.

"There's no room for anything in there, and I don't think they work," another student said.

"They are good for making sure that students don't bring weapons into our school," another student said.

In July, a letter was sent home to parents. The school district explained it was refining its current safety protocol, requiring clear backpacks at all schools to keep prohibited items out. The high school started using them in 2019.

A petition against clear backpacks signed by hundreds of students back then went nowhere.

The school district says small handbags the size of half a sheet of paper are still allowed. So too are lunchboxes, but those must be kept in the lockers.

"A clear backpack will work, but you can still roll up a gun in a coat, so it's a good tool, but you're still gonna have to be wary," security and intelligence expert Brian Boyd said. "You don't want to have the security people totally rely on looking at a backpack and maybe not inspecting. There should still be an inspection step if something looks a little unusual."

CBS2 asked the South River public schools superintendent to comment several times for this story, but she declined.

Middle school parents Gainer spoke to say this extra measure is fine with them.

"I think they did an awesome job by doing this because you don't know what kids carry," mother Maria Posadas said.

"It's a weird thing to have them walk around with everything see-through in their backpack, but if it's for my kid's safety, so be it," Pereira said.