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Student safety in school
Argument for guns in schools
Student safety in school
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Debate - Teachers having weapons in schools, yes or no?
Another reason that teachers should not be armed is that there are already police officers there. There are two reasons why police officers should be the ones with weapons. Reason A is that police officers are trained to be alert and react within seconds of an attack. According to retired United States Marine, Bill Holtzclaw,"We must recognize the difference between a teacher carrying a concealed weapon and the training required to engage an active shooter" (¨US Today¨). A teacher cannot be expected to react to a volatile situation within seconds. Reason B is that a teacher's job is to teach, and a police officer's job is to protect. Why give teachers an extra thing to worry about when
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There would need to be specialized training for teachers who have the weapons in schools. If teachers did have to be trained, that raises three issues. Reason 1 is which would teachers be picked. Even Though some people do not want to face the fact, but some teachers are crazy. If weapons are put into the school, there would be no reason why a crazy teacher could not get a weapon. Reason 2 is what would be the benefit of being trained if a teacher did not want to be trained. This is not a good idea. A teacher obviously would want some sort of monetary compensation to have the burden of a weapon upon them. By giving them more money this puts more of a hassle on the taxpayers. The third and final issue is that accidents can happen. In an article written by CNN on the topic of weapons in schools explained,¨Take for example the sixth grade teacher Michelle Ferguson-Montgomery who was injured when she accidentally fired her gun in her Utah elementary school bathroom. Authorities believe the bullet accidentally struck a toilet that exploded, causing fragments of the toilet and the bullet to strike her leg and injure her¨ (CNN). But she’s not the only teacher to accidentally fire her gun at school, just since this school year
One of the biggest debates in education is how to respond to gun violence in schools. According to BBC, “There were 64 school shootings in 2015” (BBC). One response to the rise in gun violence in schools is to arm teachers. Even our President has mentioned “giving a bonus” (Davis 2) to teachers that The fact that the idea of arming teachers is even being discussed is disappointing. Bringing more guns into a school is not the answer to gun violence. Most people that defend the idea that guns will “help” keep schools safe have basically three points: (1) teachers will be trained in gun safety, (2) it helps deter potential school shooters, and (3) it will make the students feel more safe. Even though there is some truth to those points, I think that the cons of arming teachers vastly outweigh the pros of arming teachers.
In America there is 89 firearms per 100 people (Moore) so it is safe to say most people will come in contact with a firearm in their life time. But when you do will you know how to handle the situation? Guns can be deadly when abused and used incorrectly. There is a way to reduce the unnecessary deaths. Firearm safety is the important piece in reducing the deaths and firearm abuse and it should be made mandatory in schools.
Everyone knows that parents’ first worry is the safety of their children. With the increase of violence in schools, parents have started to wonder if their children are really safe in the school setting. Shootings like Sandy Hook and Columbine left parents, administrators, and educators feeling the need to be proactive towards children’s safety. Reacting to situations like these is not good enough when children’s lives are on the line. Administration has started to brainstorm different ways to help insure the protection of their students. The idea of having teachers carry concealed weapons has been on the front burner for quite some time. As a result of this extreme idea, insurance companies have started to increase or even cancel policies with schools that have armed teachers because of the high risk they are putting themselves at. Parents and administrators also worry about the idea of children getting their hands on one of the teachers’ weapons and injuring themselves or other students. Because this idea seems quite extreme, I believe there are other alternatives that are less dramatic and more positively out looked, such as having armed security guards in schools.
One reason teachers should not be able to carry guns because guns are currently illegal in schools; Guns are illegal because they are dangerous. The Gun Free School Zone Act (GFSZA) is a federal law that was accepted in the United States in 1990. According to the GFSZA, “It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.” In order for teachers to carry guns, we would have to discard this law. Also, the school board would have to create a new policy, allowing teachers to carry guns. Adjusting the rules would be time consuming and confusing. Changing the GFSZA would make students tense and distract children from learning. Citizens from CNN Politics say, “72.4% of educators said they would be unlikely to bring a firearm to school if allowed to do so.” This data shows that the majority of teachers do not even want possession of a gun in the classroom. School officers have the right to carry guns, teachers should just focus on education. Not only does it create a huge responsibility, there would also need to be a large financial investment to supply guns for every school. This money would be hard to come up with, and not everyone is in favor of sacrificing money for firearms.
The safety of fifteen or more students would be much more easily secured by one person if that person was armed. Promoting teachers to arm themselves also prevents school shootings; criminals don’t attack a victim that can fight back. At least 60% of school attacks would be prevented with an armed faculty warning sign. School faculty members should be armed to secure the safety of the country's students, and to prevent the majority of potential shootings.
Throughout the years of education, kids go to school to get an education, to hang with friends, to get excise, and many other things. America should have armed officers in in public schools. Since kids are spending a majority of their time throughout the day and year at school, they should feel safe in that environment. That can soon change with school security falling behind with this current growth of school shooting. Schools shootings have begun occurring more often in the United States from elementary schools all the way up to colleges. How should school systems fix this problem? One solution that could be the most effective is having multiple armed officers in schools. Let’s begin with some major school shootings that were lacking armed officers, when the resource officer successfully stopped a potential shooting, and reasons why we should have an armed officer.
In “Vulnerable Schools Need Protection: Guns, Training For Teachers may be the answer”, published in a 2008 edition of the Chicago Tribune, David McGrath argues that some teachers should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon for protection. First, McGrath states that if a random psychotic gunman were searching for someplace to attack, his classroom would make an easy target. He feels that if he was trained and armed, his class would not be trapped without a chance of survival because he would be able to defend against the gunman. Sec...
School shootings are still happening and we have to put a stop to it. We need to have these teachers prepared and ready to fight. Students to deserve to have their lives out to rest knowing something could have been done that’s why we need to have these teachers armed. This is a cold world if someone enters a school with a weapon teachers need to have their weapon ready too for the sack of their children. A school is a fun place to learn but to also keep safe. This is why teachers should be armed.
Gun laws are an important key to consider. There are pistols and machine weapons as well. If a teacher were to carry a gun, it would be a handgun type and an attacker could easily carry a machine weapon. A handgun is hardly a legitimate defense mechanism against a machine gun. A machine gun can carry forty five to sixty rounds, whereas a handgun can only carry about nine bullets (Glennon). If a machine gun that an attacker brings has that many bullets and is automatic, a pistol isn’t going to do anything unless shot first. Also the government interferes in the problem of guns because the need for gun control. “Roughly sixteen thousands two hundred and thirty seven murders were committed in the United States in 2008 of these about ten thousand two hundred eighty-eight, or 67% were committed with firearms” (Agresti,Smith). Also the government has right to carry laws which enables citizens the right to carry a firearm if one can pass a background check and a gun safety course. Forty out of the United States fifty states has agreed to let people who meet certain criteria to carry firearms, and the other ten are indecisive or completely disagree (Agresti,Smith). This shows that the population as a whole has the right to carry guns if legally allowed, but not teachers just because s...
Schools were once traditionally viewed as a safe place for children, teenagers, and adults. The educational setting coupled with community involvement gave no reason for violence to occur in schools. As years progressed, the occurrence of violence in school shocked communities across the nation, calling for state lawmakers and school districts to produce a solution to prevent these acts from occurring. Events such as the 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado urged schools throughout the U.S. to increase their security measures with more stringent policies and procedures while spending millions of dollars on security equipment from security cameras to metal detectors. While schools increase their safety measures to prevent another major incident from occurring, such as a suspect with a firearm (active shooter) from entering school property, some of the security measures have not been effective. An example is the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where the shooter was able to bypass a locked door which is one of the security measures the school had in place, making personnel visiting the school required to request entrance into the building (Barron).
On the side if teachers were to carry guns students and parents may be more scared. “When violent force is upheld as safety, fear and silence creep in”(Corbett huffington post). “Kids get their hands on guns, and they know how to use them”( Corbett huffington post). “I have a patient who recalls his silent car rides with his father who kept two guns under the driver’s seat. Silently the boy watched, on guard, even though nothing ever happened. But then again nothing was ever
The idea of teachers having a firearm on them came with many cons. According to the article “The Nation Arming Teachers to Keep Schools Safe,” School Board President Mark McPherson said, “I don't feel we can train a teacher to respond effectively in that situation by giving them a 40-hour course, that isn't enough for them to execute with clarity and in an expert manner in a situation that normally calls for a professional.” Many believe that this is true. Teachers don't just have to be physically ready, but also have to be mentally ready for when the time comes. For many states, teachers carrying a gun is not an option and will not be one for many years.
In fact, I think that if teachers were to be trained and carrying a gun, they should get a bonus every month. That is because, they have a chance to protect themselves more, and the kids on campus. As for training, that shouldn't be hard to do. All they teach them to do, is how to hold the gun, reload the gun, and how to aim the gun. I know this because my mother is trained to have a gun.
April 20, 1999, 18-year old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine high school they Killed 12 students and one teacher. The teacher did not have a gun, Nor did anyone else The teacher could have saved lives, but He wasn't allowed to bring a gun The two teens arrived at the school at 11:23 am the Swat team came in at 1:10 PM. That is About 2 hours until the students were Safe if there was a teacher with a gun he could have made that 13 deaths way lower This is why the Teachers need guns !!! Teachers should be able to carry guns because it will make students feel safer and will deter shooters. Although, one could argue carrying guns could put the school more at risk of an accidental shooting
Over in the United States of America, with in the first 23 weeks, there was 24 school shootings. That averages 1 attack per week where students lose their life. While in Australia, there has not been a mass shooting or school attack since 1996. That’s over two decades where schools have been safe because of Australia safe gun laws. So there is absolutely no need for teachers to have a firearm in class to “protect” the students.