- School districts across Texas are mandating clear backpacks for the upcoming school year.
- The measure is in response to the May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, which left 21 people dead.
- A security expert told Insider the policy is no "magic pill" and should be one step in a larger plan to address gun violence.
After more than two decades of school shootings — from Columbine, Colorado, and Parkland, Florida, to Oxford, Michigan, and Uvalde, Texas — some districts across the nation have ordered students to use clear backpacks as a way to keep children safe.
But a security expert said see-through school supplies are "no magic pill" to suddenly end school shootings, and there are "a hundred hard things to do" as well to address the problem.
In the wake of the May 24 massacre at a Uvalde elementary school — which left 19 children and two adults dead — a handful of school districts across Texas have moved forward to announce clear backpack mandates for the upcoming academic year.
This week, Dallas Independent School District became the latest in the state to announce that students must use clear or mesh backpacks for the upcoming year — following others like Greenville, San Antonio's Southside, and Ingleside.
And this trend didn't start in Texas. After the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, clear backpacks were mandated, USA TODAY reported at the time.
Chris Grollnek, a retired police detective corporal and expert in active shooter prevention, told Insider that mandating clear backpacks is "a good idea for what it is, because it addresses something, not nothing."
But Grollnek said there's "no magic fix."
Grollnek said one solution won't be enough to prevent gun violence and clear backpacks should be one step in a larger plan that includes measures like tighter gun laws, broader access to mental health resources, and better police training.
Other steps could include more training for staff, restricted access to enter schools, gun detection surveillance, automatic lockdowns, and software that would immediately notify police of a gunshot.
"A clear backpack is a start, but it's clearly not … the destination — it's just a start," he said.
There's a lot of work that needs to be done, Grollnek said, but he's seen a lack of political will to make the changes needed.
"We haven't lost a child to a school fire in 64 years," he said, adding that "we got tired of losing kids to fire in schools" and introduced prevention methods like fire trucks, fire alarms, and fireproof buildings.
"We're not ready to let kids stop dying in schools yet," he added.