A high school student has invented a device that can keep doors locked under all circumstances and prevent shooters from entering classrooms. Justin Rivard, a student at Somerset High School in Wisconsin, created the device out of steel. It can reportedly keep students safe in case of school shootings.
After the recent Florida school shooting, increasing security for classrooms and students has become the biggest concern for all. This invention can prove to be a step forward in that direction.
Two years ago when Justin's technical education teacher challenged the entire classroom to build a device that can increase school safety, 15-year-old Justin started researching all the products used for locking doors and studied their strengths and weaknesses thoroughly.
Even before the Florida massacre, Justin could see the loopholes in his school's security system, according to KARE. He put months of research into developing his device.
The high schooler named the device JustinKase and says it latches to the door frame to bar entry. The device, which looks like a rod, can be latched at the bottom of the door or on the hinge joint. Justin's website promotes the product as a device that does not allow the door to be opened or cracked. He now sells the product online for $95.
"You can lock a door with a lock, it can get shot out. You can lock a door with this, it can't get shot out. You can't get around it," Justin told KARE.
The 17-year-old is now trying to spread the word about his invention across all schools. His own school has already ordered 50 of them and Wisconsin's Grantsburg School District has ordered more than 50 devices.
"We immediately, within a week of having these, went through an entire drill, all throughout the building, really walking through students and staff," said Somerset's principal Shannon Donnelly. She further said Justin truly believes this device can save lives.
Justin is yet to find anyone able to open a door that has been locked using JustinKase. He ardently hopes that no school will actually have to use the device, but "just in case you need it, it'll be there."
Justin wanted to leave a mark before leaving school, and he now believes he has successfully left his impact in all the classrooms.
On February 14, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida witnessed one of the deadliest mass shootings.
One day after the Florida school massacre, Katie Cornelis of Southbury, Connecticut, took to Facebook to speak about the need for doorstops in classrooms.
She wrote that following the 2012 shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 26, she asked her nieces to carry doorstops in their backpacks so they can keep the doors shut in case of another school shooting. Her post was shared on Facebook more than 1.3 million times.
