Arming Teachers

Is There Support for Arming Teachers in Schools?
Alley M. Odell
Concord University

Arming Teachers in Schools “Armed police resource officers in schools are not new but the notion of arming teachers and principals and schools is new to most,” (Koonce, 2014, p.165). School shootings in a school have become a nationwide problem and heartache. For example, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Colorado, was national news and hurt the country. Not to mention it is a parent’s worst nightmare to send them off to school and not have their child come home that afternoon. Mass shooting are becoming more prominent not only throughout schools but in other places too. But it is such a debated topic because our culture is
so violent. Obviously there are two sides to every debate, the yes and the no side. The yes side is supported by Nivri Shah talks about arming teachers in school because of the Sandy Hook Elementary Tragedy. A superintendent stated that “school personnel’s are the first responders.” The no side of the debate was led by Kenneth Trump, the National School Safety and Security Services assert that teachers wasn’t to be armed with “textbooks and computers, not guns,” (Koonce, 2014, p. 165).
Armed Teachers and School Shootings I believe that teachers could become armed in school systems because like the yes side states, “school personnel’s are the first to respond.” I really think that because of the delay of Emergency responders and the small number of resource officers in a school it can be a struggle to handle the shooter.
Also, to even protect all the students and faculty members in the school. If a teachers training includes gun safety and usage that would only increase the safety of the classroom. I do not think at all that this could bema negative thing. People who become educators are hired because their principal feels that they fit the qualifications necessary for teaching the students to the best of their ability. There are superintendents who gave gotten together and stated that “we’re seeing so many school employees saying they would attack.” Many and most teachers are all about having a gun on their person to protect themselves and their classroom as well as their students. For teachers at schools who are already armed in some school districts, there are regulations they have to follow concerning gun safety and dress code. The employees that are armed, which is a 32 member staff, went through mental-health screenings and trained for their concealed-weapons licenses together. The training will be ongoing until they leave that school. School safety consultants discuss how, “they could not base solely on the events of Dec. 14th, as they could not previously base gun training on what
happened at Columbine High School in Jefferson County Colo., in 1999,” (Koonce, 2014, p. 168).
Responsibility and Liability in Schools with Armed Teachers There is a teacher on the yes side of things that had an opinion for both sides.
She was definitely the middle man, Ms. Sorenson. She is a 13-year teaching veteran, is among those who haven’t been involved in school shootings in Utah. She did not reveal if she held a gun at school or not but she stated, “One person’s choice is not the same choice for somebody else. Along with that choice, comes responsibility,” (Koonce, 2014, p. 169). Many feel that arming a teacher should be up to the School Resource Officers and police department officers. I feel that this is a good policy when it comes to arming teachers. As educators, they must ensure that they are capable enough to understand the responsibility that comes with holding a gun. Especially in a school with students of different ages. Kenneth S. Trump, President of National School Safety and Security Services, says that “While gun control and gun rights advocate for the schools sometimes it turns into a political debate.” School districts who arm the teachers are responsible and liable for anything that can happen related to the safety of the school because of the gun. Trump says that he supports the Second Amendment and concealed weapon laws. But this does not include educators carrying the weapon. Some concerns for having guns on campus are that teachers are not competent enough to handle the responsibility of having a gun attached to their hip throughout the school day and that the school board might lose control over
its teachers. In my opinion, you don’t know unless you try. While this might have a rocky start at first, I really feel that this could create awareness for anyone who wants to be involved in another school shooting and cause mass pain around the world. While being armed in the classroom seems like a good idea and seems like a logical thing to do, there is more that goes into it when it comes to being a teacher and armed in the classroom. As a future educator I wouldn’t feel comfortable holding a gun on my person. I would rather have it held up in a desk or safe box until it is absolutely necessary to have it out or in use. Hearing about mass school shootings are heartbreaking but it is real and they happen throughout our nation. I do believe that if we have teachers armed in the classrooms then the school shooting might go down but at the same time this could create more violence. I really think that things could go either way. But according to the National School Safety and Security Services, its main purpose is to protect kids and its educators. At this points they will do what is necessary to protect kids and create a safe and comfortable learning environment as well as teaching environment.
Bibliography
Koonce, G. (2014) Is There Support For Arming Teachers In Schools? In Taking Sides: Clashing Views on educational issues (Eighteenth ed.).
Home - National Association of School Resource Officers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2015, from https://nasro.org/