Should Teachers Carry Guns In Schools?

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After the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting on December 14, 2014 where 20 first graders and 6 school staff members were killed, the controversy over school security officers has resurfaced. Many parties are recognizing the need for additional security measures to prevent future incidents from happening, while other parties are attempting to solve the issues that have already accompanied their previous increase in police presence. Understanding the viewpoints and demands of both sides is crucial to finding a solution that benefits everyone.
The Obama Administration, state legislatures, National Rifle Association (NRA), and National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) have been responding to the Newtown school shooting by pushing …show more content…

Increasing the amount of school resource officers with the intention of protecting both the students and staff from acts of extreme violence is a genuine proposal that has a great promise to save lives. Allowing teachers to carry licensed guns to school, however, is not as easy to understand. If teachers are able to carry firearms to school, the students might be distracted or nervous that there is always a gun in their classroom. Especially if the guns are to be carried by the teachers on their person, it could be intimidating to the students and the teachers could lose their sense of relatability. If the movements to increase the amount of police officers in schools are passed, permitting other staff members to carry licensed weapons might be …show more content…

States including Mississippi, Utah, Texas, New York and California argue that the increase of police presence in their schools over the recent years has put many students on the school-to-prison pipeline. There have been multiple reports of school officers ticketing and threatening young students over minor disciplinary infractions. It is noted that after a student has a first-time court appearance, that the odds of that student dropping out of high school quadruples. In New York, there was even a lawsuit filed that accused the New York City school police of unjustifiably detaining and using excessive force against middle and high school level students. These students were on the receiving side of over aggressive policing because of simple misbehaviors, such as drawing on a desk or spraying perfume. It seems that many school officers are undertrained to work with juveniles and cannot differentiate between the breaking of school rules and the breaking of the law. It is apparent that the criminal justice system has become too involved in the day-to-day disciplines at schools. This will cause kids to negatively view police and the criminal justice system. Or it is possible that they will view the school officers purpose as a form of punishment instead protection from

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