Should There Be Armed Guards in School

Rachel Veroneau
Leasa Day
English 101
February 20, 2013
Should there be armed police offers in schools? Everyday parents send their children to school and expect them to return home to them. What would happen if you got the phone call from the school, or police saying that there was a shooting at your child’s school, and they may have been harmed? How would you feel? Do you think that an armed police officer would help prevent that situation from happening? I do. It would make the staff and students feel safe, the perpetrator would be less likely to enter the school, and parents can put their minds at ease. Having an armed officer at a school would have the staff and students feel safe, because they wouldn’t have to worry about what others may bring to the school. Many teachers feel like they are at risk for harm when they come to school. That kind of stress can lead to the teachers getting sick and major health issues. Students who have this same fear will start doing poorly in school, or just not want to go so they ditch school. That isn’t a healthy environment, and is not fair to the staff and students to live in fear at the school. When there is a presence of an armed officer at a school, they may deter a perpetrator from going into the school to harm people. The situation at Sandy Hook may have been prevented if there was an armed officer at school. When they call 911 the police take a while to show up, and it can be a horrible scene that they come to. If we have an armed officer they can be there already and help prevent innocent lives from coming to end prematurely. Many parents can put their minds at ease knowing that there is someone at the schools that will protect their children. When the schools call in the middle of the day, parents can know that it isn’t going to be a horrible phone call. The phone call could be that they are doing poor in school, something instead that they can deal with. As a parent I much rather get that phone call any day as opposed to the alternate phone call. Some people may say that just because there is an armed officer in the schools it may not prevent a school shooting. That may be true, but it can help prevent most of them. The staff and students can feel safer, it may help prevent perpetrators from coming in, and parents can put their minds at ease, all knowing that there is someone at the schools armed, and ready to protect our valuable children. Please allow this to happen and have armed officers in each and every school for the safety of our children, and those teachers that teach them.