By Kait Hanson—
Today
Cassie Walton's son is about to start elementary school, and this Oklahoma mom came by to buy the supplies she'll need: colored pencils, notebooks...and a bulletproof backpack.
"It makes me feel very sad that we've come to this as a country, I wish it were different," Walton, 23, told NBC News.
What scares him the most, he added, is that his son, Weston, 5, "something happens to him in a place where he is supposed to be safe."
Walton posted a video, which went viral on the social network TikTok, showing how he trained his son to face a possible shooting.
In the video, Walton asks his son what he would do if someone at school says over the intercom, "This is not a drill."
Weston, carrying his bulletproof Spider-Man backpack, replies, "Go into the corner and be very quiet and still."
Next, Walton asks him, "Show me how you use your bulletproof backpack."
And he sees the child putting it on his head.
"If a teacher says: Weston you don't need your backpack, let's go to the corner," Walton provokes his son.
"I say: No, I need it, it's bulletproof," he replies.
Walton then asks the boy what he would do if the police are outside the class, but the shooter is inside.
“I say, I'm here,” Weston replies with childish enthusiasm.
His mother replies, “Not at all, you don't say a word.
If the shooter is inside, you don't say a word, you stay totally silent."
Finally, Walton asks Weston what he will do if he leaves the building and Weston says he will run home.
"Run as far from the school as you can," Walton told her, "Mom will find you."
thewaltonfamily1 via TikTok
Walton explained that after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, it was important for Weston to be prepared: "I wanted him to know what to do if the situation arose."
The woman, a mother of two children, said that Weston asked her questions when she saw the news about the massacre.
"He got to see what was going on in Texas and, like kids do, he had questions, so I answered (to the best of my ability) and then told him about my experience at school," Walton said, adding that he tried to use words that a 5-year-old could understand without going into too much detail.
When Walton shared the video, which has racked up millions of views, he knew it "could" get attention, but "didn't expect it to get that much buzz."
"I was just trying to show what we do at home and share a product that I recommended," she added, "maybe inspire other parents to break the ice to have this important talk."
