Students in the US have been given bulletproof shields to place in their backpacks to protect themselves from school shootings.

A group of pupils in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania received the ballistic panels as parting gifts before they start high school following the recent spate of gun violence in America.

Robert Vito, chief executive of Unequal, the company which makes the shields, told Sky News he was approached by the principal who was seeking to improve the safety of staff and students.

"(Shootings) have become the norm for schoolchildren," he said.

"The principal of my daughter's school asked me; 'Is there something you can do to protect the faculty and the kids?'


"This puts the protection in your hands, as opposed to hiding and curling in a corner. You have the ability to protect yourself.

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Image: The shields are said to protect against many types of bullets, shotgun blasts, shrapnel and knives. Pic: Unequal Technologies

"This is not the one-stop solution. This is part of the solution."

Fifteen students in eighth grade at St Cornelius School received the protective shields, along with 25 staff members.

The panels weigh just over 500g and resist many types of bullets, shotgun blasts, shrapnel and knives, according to Unequal.

However they do not offer protection against high-powered rifles like the one a gunman used to kill 17 people at a Florida high school in February.

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Ten people were also killed and the same number wounded after a gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Texas last month.

Unequal said it is aiming to offer protection against attacks that are causing "tragic deaths and injuries all too often in schools and other places where innocent, unarmed people congregate".

Following the Florida shooting, US President Donald Trump said having a percentage of teachers carrying firearms in schools would be "a major deterrent".

Jim Caldwell, senior vice president at Unequal, said that as students go through their high school years, the shields are "a gift that hopefully they'll never have to use".