Arming teachers, a bad idea

Nicole Cuellar, Section-Editor
May 10, 2016

After 45 school shootings in the U.S., school districts in Arkansas and Oklahoma decided to take matters into their own hands and arm school teachers with weapons. The arming of school teachers is a dangerous decision that can only cause more harm than good.

Let’s be serious, children and teenagers are unpredictable creatures and it doesn’t help when social media and the internet make guns look cool. A concealed gun assigned to a teacher runs the risk of being stolen. Writer Ken Corbett of Slate wrote an article, The Three Reasons Why Guns in School are a Bad Idea, listing as his number one reason as kids get their hands on everything.

Schools who have decided to arm teachers don’t even allow their own security guards to be armed. Instead security is forced to carry a baton. Campus security guard Mike Atkins said his staff is licensed to carry guns but district policy does not permit it. If a school needs protection don’t arm the teacher’s arm the security guards instead. Security guards are trained to serve and protect. They have the proper training to handle a gun. Teachers may only take a 40-hour course over a five day period. They learn the fundamentals of using a firearm and safety while practicing shooting at a shooting range. That is not enough training.

Teachers like everyone else are human. Humans sometimes can snap and any number of things can set them off. Last March, dean  Shaun Harrison of English high school in Boston, shot a 17-year old student for selling marijuana. If this can set off a dean imagine a teacher who’s having a bad day and takes the daily turmoil of 30 plus students.

The solution to some schools is arming teachers but instead of going to those lengths,  arm security guards first so schools don’t have to worry about a teacher breakdown or a kid with sticky fingers.