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 / Updated By Tim Stelloh and Kiara Alfonseca 
 
 They were intended to keep students safe. 
 
 But on Monday, as teens at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, returned from spring break, they took to Twitter to mock the clear backpacks now required by their school district, describing them as a violation of privacy, a meaningless gesture and a distraction from real gun reform. 
 
 My new backpack is almost as transparent as the NRA’s agenda. 
 
 
 
 I feel sooo safe now. 
 
 
 
 As much as I appreciate the effort we as a country need to focus on the real issue instead of turning our schools into prisons. #clearbackpacks #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/HqBIeGjzF9 — Lauren Hogg (@lauren_hoggs) April 2, 2018 
 
 “My new backpack is almost as transparent as the NRA's agenda,” wrote Lauren Hogg, a freshman at the school and a survivor of the Feb. 14 mass shooting that killed 17 students and faculty members. 
 
 “I feel sooo safe now," wrote Lauren, the younger sister of David Hogg, a Stoneman Douglas senior who has emerged as one of the leading student voices for gun control. "As much as I appreciate the effort we as a country need to focus on the real issue instead of turning our schools into prisons.” 
 
 The backpacks, which were provided to students at no charge, are among the new security measures introduced by the Broward County school district in the shooting's aftermath. 
 
 As students lined up between metal barricades to get those backpacks checked before heading through school doors, some said they felt overwhelmed by the new safety policies. 
 
 “The see-through bags is a tad much, it’s an invasion of privacy,” Gabriel Edenbaum, 15, a freshman who survived the shooting, told NBC News on Tuesday. Despite all the changes on school grounds, he says he understands it’s to protect the students. When asked about the police force, Edenbaum said it can be “scary.” 
 
 “We’re just trying to learn,” said Edenbaum. 
 
 In a letter to students’ families last month,Robert Runcie, superindent of Broward County schools, said the district was considering installing metal detectors and using wands. Florida Highway Patrol officers will provide security at the high school, but each school in the district will have its own school resource officer by the start of the 2018-19 school year. 
 
 New identification badges to be worn at all times, a greater police presence, continuously locked classroom doors: the list of safety initiatives from Runcie goes on and on. 
 
 The new measures, Runcie said, are meant to help “fortify” the school and expand safety protocols. 
 
 But many students were having none of it. 
 
 “Starting off the last quarter of senior year right, with a good ol' violation of privacy!” one student, Delaney Tarr, said on Twitter. 
 
 “Now I can’t lie about not having gum,” scoffed another. 
 
 Some students used the see-through material of the backpacks to display protest signs and messages. 
 
 "This bag contains everything politicians care about besides money," read Lex Michael's sign in the pocket of an empty clear backpack. 
 
 Another student, Sarah Chadwick, snapped a photo of the new backpacks with price tags attached and tweeted directly at Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — a nod to what she has previously characterized as students’ “worth” to the senator, who she calculated has received $3.3 million from the National Rifle Association, or $1.05 for each of Florida's estimated 3.1 million students. 
 
 “Is that all we’re worth to these politicians?” Chadwick asked during a rally last month. 
 
 Rubio has said that while he supports the students’ right to protest for what he described as "a gun ban," he doesn’t agree with all their proposals. ||||| In this frame grab from video provided by WPLG-TV, students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., evacuate the school following a shooting there on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018.... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this frame grab from video provided by WPLG-TV, students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., evacuate the school following a shooting there on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018.... (Associated Press) 
 
 PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — A shooter opened fire at a Florida high school Wednesday, killing "numerous" people, sending students running out into the streets and SWAT team members swarming in before authorities took the shooter into custody. 
 
 Frantic parents rushed to the scene and ambulances converged in front of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Live footage showed emergency workers appearing to treat possibly wounded people on the sidewalks. 
 
 The Broward County Sheriff's Office tweeted Wednesday afternoon that "so far we have at least 14 victims." The tweet added: "Victims have been and continue to be transported to Broward Health Medical Center and Broward Health North hospital." 
 
 Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said there were "numerous fatalities." 
 
 It is a horrific situation." He added, "It is a horrible day for us." 
 
 Len Murray's 17-year-old son, a junior at the school, sent his parents a chilling text around 2:30pm: "Mom and Dad, there have been shots fired on campus at school. There are police sirens outside. I'm in the auditorium and the doors are locked." 
 
 A few minutes later, he texted again: "I'm fine." 
 
 Television footage showed police in olive fatigues, with weapons drawn, entering the school, then dozens of children frantically running and walking quickly out. A police officer waved the students on, urging them to quickly evacuate. Some students exited the building in single-file rows with hands raised overhead to show they carried no weapons. Others held onto other students as they made their way out past helmeted police in camouflage with weapons drawn. 
 
 The Broward Schools department said on its website that students and staff heard what sounded like gunfire and the school immediately went on lockdown. 
 
 Murray said he raced to the school only to be stopped by authorities under a highway overpass within view of the school buildings. He said he told his son to save his battery and stop texting, while the boy's mother told him to turn off his ringer. 
 
 No information has been provided yet to parents, he said. "I'm scared for the other parents here. You can see the concern in everybody's faces. Everybody is asking, 'Have you heard from your child yet?'" Murray said. 
 
 Murray said he's had just one thought running through his mind since he got his son's text: "All I keep thinking about is when I dropped him off this morning - I usually say, 'I love you,' and I didn't think morning. He's 17, he's at that age, and I didn't say it this morning, and I'm just kicking myself right now over and over and over. Say it early and often, I'm telling you." 
 
 The high school is a sprawling complex set on a tract in the South Florida community of Parkland, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of downtown Miami. 
 
 The school had just over 3,100 students in the 2016-2017 academic year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Major streets run along two sides and an expressway passes nearby on the other not far from a residential neighborhood of single family homes. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Jennifer N. Kay contributed to this report.
– Members of the Broward County Police Benevolent Association handed carnations out to students as they entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School two weeks after a former student gunned down 17 people inside the freshman building. A long line of cars bringing people back to the school in Parkland, Fla., was guided by police as dozens of television trucks and vehicles camped out nearby. About 50 armed officers were on hand, and only students, parents, and staff were allowed through a security cordon. The main entrance is covered with a sign saying "Welcome Back Eagles." Students were told to leave their backpacks at home. Principal Ty Thomas said in a tweet Tuesday that "our focus is on emotional readiness and comfort not curriculum: so there is no need for backpacks. Come ready to start the healing process and #RECLAIMTHENEST." For Madison Geller, Wednesday offered an opportunity to get back into a routine, in spite of her fears, reports the AP. "When I walk in there, I'm going to replay the whole thing in my head. But we have to come here and try to learn," the high school junior said. "This week we will try to be comfortable and get back into the same routine." Angelyse Perez, a senior, said returning offers a chance for everyone to "get through this and be together. But I'm graduating," she said. "I just want to get out of here."