This post also appears at www.designfictiondaily.com

As a kid, I lived for summer vacation. When August rolled around, anxiety would bubble up in my belly as those precious months of freedom neared their end. I dreaded the oppressive routine of school—the bland cafeteria food, the too-early wake up calls, the mind-numbing lessons. I thought I had it bad.

As a grown-ass man, a new back-to-school anxiety emerged as I witnessed bulletproof backpacks advertised on YouTube. This dystopian nightmare is our reality today, not some far-off fiction. Children now gear up in Kevlar for basic education.

I yearn to return to those carefree summers of old, where the worst part of September was facing a pop quiz or squash in the lunch line. But today, we armor up for math class and normalize violence against students.

We owe children an education free of fear, where the school bell rings not for an active shooter drill, but for recess and engaging lessons. Kids deserve so much better.

This week I’ll be commuting in the janky time machine to where back-to-school isn’t as dire as our current primeline.