New school rules requiring see-through backpacks are rising as students return to class this year.

Why it matters: More shootings on campus are making administrators choose between letting students express themselves and taking extra steps to keep schools safe.

What’s happening: At least 27 school districts in the past 18 months have started restricting backpacks in response to an uptick in school shootings, the Washington Post reported.

The big picture: Some schools started giving out clear backpacks in the immediate aftermath of a shooting in the mid-2000s, said David Riedman, the founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

• Now an increasing number of districts are instituting it as an umbrella policy.
• “Schools are constantly in that reactionary mode, even if they haven’t actually had a shooting,” he said.

By the numbers: This calendar year has seen 221 school shootings so far, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.

• In 2022, there were a total of 305.
• A decade ago, in 2013, there were 34.

Zoom in: The policies span the country and vary widely.

• The Covington County School District in […]