In middle school, the cool kids all had JanSports. I rolled my eyes. Why does everyone have the same backpack?

I was a junior in high school when Columbine happened. Close enough in age to feel it in a way that didn’t leave.

My bag — whatever it was — was opaque. Mine. Probably purchased without much thought.

Clear backpacks came after my time. A policy response to a tragedy that keeps happening .

My daughter is ten. Active shooter drills are part of her school year the way fallout shelter drills were for kids in the 1960s. She doesn’t have a clear backpack yet.

When I went to buy one for this project, I found a clear version. I knew immediately it was perfect. The object I’d associated with conformity — made transparent, made mine, made into an argument.

I already knew exactly what I was going to put in it.

I’m not being provocative. I’m being precise. Because the thing about a clear backpack is that it doesn’t care why you’re using it. It was designed for surveillance.…