The NY Times (Aug 30, 2013) reports a battlefield armor manufacturer is now marketing bulletproof inserts for children’s backpacks.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/opinion/statehouse-swagger-in-the-gun-debate.html?hp)
the Goat Rodeo blog
Life, Writing, and Surgery
the Goat Rodeo blog 
Is this a sign of how dangerous the US has become, or a reflection of the general inability to calculate risk? What are the chances of a child being shot in the back? Or anywhere else for that matter. Companies who manufacture and sell such products are exploitative fear mongers.
I have no rational explanation. Just saddened and embarrassed.