Why Aren’t There More Clear Backpacks?

Over the next week or two, in some form or another, the school year is starting across America. School had already changed a great deal in recent years, with rules and regulations requiring clear backpacks and so-called “student resource officers.” Add in the precautions necessitated by Covid-19, and you get a school year unlike anything seen before.

The full extent of the effects of social distancing on classroom learning have yet to be revealed. But we do know that students will be monitored like crazy. Clear backpacks are even more of a must, now that school security needs to limit contact with potentially infected individuals. Sadly, even though they’ve been mandated for years now, the selection of clear backpacks available on Amazon is still wanting. With traditional book bags, you can find a wide selection of stylized gear. With clear backpacks, on the other hand, your choices are basically limited to this perfectly cromulent model by AmazonBasics:

Plus dozens of Chinese imitators like this one from Packism:

K-Cliffs has developed a solid reputation for clear backpacks, as evidenced by their #1 spot in this Reviewed.com article.

If you ask me, there should be just as much diversity in the offering of clear backpacks as there is in traditional ones. One need not don a tinfoil hat to foresee a near future in which clear backpacks are mandated everywhere. Hopefully by then the consumer will at least get more of a choice in the matter.