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Conclusion of gun violence in schools
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Effects of gun violence
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Homicide, with an average of thirteen children per day, is the second leading cause of death among America’s youth. Contrary to popular belief only 2% of this violence occur on school ground (“School-Associated Violent Death Study”). With this in mind, should teachers be armed? A gun in the home makes the likelihood of homicide three times higher, suicide three to five times higher, and accidental death four times higher (“Protect Children Not Guns”). A school is no different: the more guns the more need to use them. The idea behind arming teachers is to add safety. If only 2% of homicides occur on school grounds, guns being allowed would only increase that percent. Guns would add danger, fear, and stress to an already chaotic environment. …show more content…
Proof of this is seen in Utah. Utah allows its teachers to carry guns in school. At Westbrook Elementary a teacher was using the restroom when she unintentionally shot herself in the leg . The same event occurred at a University. During a chemistry lab the instructor was wounded in the foot when a concealed handgun fired in his pocket (“List of school shootings in America”). A class was simply trying to learn when all of a sudden the teacher was in the hospital. In addition, a study found that 21% of officers killed by a gun were shot by their own weapon. The same study found that only 29% of shots fired by officers hit the intended target . Official officers that have been put through extensive training still struggled with a handgun. If the training an officer receives with automatic weapons is not enough, teachers will definitely not receive adequate training. What is more, the smallness of a classroom makes the circumstance more difficult for a teacher. The teacher would be required to have faster reflexes and better aim than the average officer must have (“Arming Teachers? The facts argue against it” ). Even the American Federation of Teachers, with its 1.5 million members, opposes arming teachers (Granderson). The reason for this is that teachers will not be able to protect the classroom when needed. When …show more content…
There is no recorded data specifically for armed adults in schools, but it was found that people with guns in their home are at a greater risk of homicide than those without (Gorman-Smith and McLauglin). A gun in a school would prove no different than a gun in a home. Information shows that guns creates a more vulnerable environment, not a more protected one. In fact, in states with increased gun availability death rates from gunshots for children were higher not lower ("Gun Violence: Facts and Statistics”). It is a truth universally acknowledged that more guns in an environment means more shots fired. Since 2007, the Violence Policy Center has observed a minimum of 579 fatal incidents involving concealed carry permit holders nationwide ("Concealed Carry Permit Holders Threaten Public Safety, VPC Research Shows”). The ability to carry guns causes problems all across America; therefore, bringing guns into schools would also cause problems. Despite the common assumption, holding a gun does not provide extra protection it rather endangers everyone. Though the majority finds arming teachers the solution to all problems, the majority is utterly mistaken. Arming teachers is not the answer in that it creates a danger in the classroom, teachers are not trained, and teachers themselves could be the intruder. A child or teen dies or is injured from guns every thirty minutes
Michael Eisinger an eighth grade science teacher says, "If a gunman is going to cause violence in a school, they are going to have the element of surprise," "My guess is that they would still be able to shoot teachers, students or whoever else they wanted before some sort of coherent response materialized. (Huffington Post) Arming teachers isn’t going to solve the problem. We still will end up with deaths in schools. The gunman may decide to take the professors gun as well, which will result in the enemy having another harmful weapon.
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.
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.
Some of the deaths that were caused by gun violence was dealt to small children.Having a firearm in your home can cause a great risk if you have a child in your home because a firearm can be accessed by a child.In many situation the child is playing with firearm without adult supervision and end up either wounding themselves or end up dead. According to CNN “Guns kill Nearly 1,300 US children each year.”Also when a firearm is easily accessible a child will often grab a hold of it and it could be a possibility that they can take it to school there were some cases where a kid took a firearm to school and opened
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.
There's a problem in America. Children, defenseless are being shot one by one. They go to their school and the schools are a gun free zone. The shooters take advantage of it and take the children's lives. Teachers should be able to carry a handgun to protect their children. This is very important, to all teachers and students for their safety. Shooters wouldn't come in the school knowing that the teacher had a gun. Students would feel way safer. There would be a lot of safety that would go into this.there are a lot of facts that can help us make the decision.
On the CDC Media Relations web page, the 1997 statistics show that 8.3% of high school students carry a weapon (e.g., gun, knife, or club) to school and 7.4% of high school students were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property throughout the year. In the report, it also included that nationwide, 4% of students had missed 1 or more days of school during the 30 days preceding the survey because they had felt unsafe at school or when traveling to or from school. These statistics show that students are afraid of going to school, they don’t feel safe and something should be done to change that. There should be no reason why students need to bring weapons to school in order to feel safe.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Teachers play a very important role in our kid’s lives on a daily basis. Not only are they there as educators, but they are also there as protectors as well, especially for our younger students. They are not only there to watch over them and make sure that they get home safely, but they are there to protect them from any harm, including a gunman. If a gunman were to enter the school and some if not all of the teachers were licensed to carry, he could be stopped before harming or even killing several people, including our children.
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
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
As time goes by, cultures change, and people change. Gun laws have become very strict and a person must have a legal permit to carry a weapon in a public facility. Unfortunately, the misuse of guns have become a problem in America. School shootings have become more rampant. Even though we should all have the right to protect ourselves, we should limit the access of guns on our school campus. When children are not properly taught at home, it puts them at a greater risk to become a problem in the school setting. If a troubled child or an adult doesn’t have access to weapons at home, they could very well target those who do have access to weapons, especially those on campuses. Kids are shooting each other and they are also, sadly, doing the most disturbing and heart breaking thing a child can do, and that is to commit suicide.
The issue of school administrators and teachers carrying guns has become an actual controversial topic in our society today. School shootings similar to the ones in Sandy Hook and Florida, has also become common in our society. Arming teachers is only one of the solutions that states are considering and some have already started the process of proposing this to become a law. This issue needs to be thoroughly researched and all aspects need to be considered and evaluated. However, what changes to security measures and policies will be put in place, if teachers are required to be armed will training be provided, and more importantly, will the parents and the teachers have a say in the new policies, will their voices be heard.