WATERVILLE, Maine — A parent in Waterville decided to invent a product that would protect his son if a shooter tried to break into his school.
Ryan Bowman had the difficult conversation with his son last year, that many parents have had: what to do in the event of a school shooting. According to Education Week, an education journal, there were 23 school shootings in 2018 where students were killed or injured.
"There's nothing to say it can't happen in Waterville, or anyplace else and it makes you nervous as a parent," said Bowman. "I can't be there with my child. I need to have some other way to try to protect them when I can't be there."
Bowman started thinking of a doorstop product that could work to keep a door shut instead of propped open and he came up with the Safety-Wedge.
"When we were first going through it, it was just how would this look, or what would we make and it was a really big learning experience because we actually went through six prototypes just on how the way it connects to the backpack," said Bowman.
The patent for the Safety-Wedge has been approved and production is in full swing at G&G Producers in Kennebunk. With the right type of rubber, the safety wedge doesn't slide with the door it's put under. It will instead fold up under itself, wedging the door in place no matter how much pressure is pushed against it.
"The primary goal for the safety wedge is to provide parents with a cost-effective means to have a piece of mind when they send their child to school," said Bowman.
Click here to pre-order a Safety-Wedge.