Should our teachers be armed?

Should our teachers be armed?

While I respect and agree with the position that, in light of current events, we should focus on making our schools more secure, there are good and bad ways to go about it — and the arming of teachers is probably one of the bad ways. With recent tragedies in mind, school shootings in particular, certain groups have advocated for the arming of school teachers as a means of deterring possible violence. While I’m certain there are situations in which this could help, possibly even saving lives, it strikes me as rash and paranoid, and likely to do more harm than good.

The main argument in favor of arming teachers seems to be that it will avoid creating conflict in the first place. If a school totes itself as armed and ready to handle intruders, it’s less likely that intruders may consider entering the school in the first place, right? While I think there is some truth to this, it’s hardly foolproof. The type of people who decide to go and shoot up a school are not the same type of people who rob a bank or a store. The latter may not be all there mentally, but they’re out to gain something; they want to survive. The former, probably not. Many, I’d venture  most, school shooters don’t care whether or not they come out alive; they go in knowing they’ll be shot, or sometimes planning to shoot themselves. Treating them as some predictable threat you can ward off with guns is setting yourself up for trouble. At the same time, I think that having armed security guards on duty would deter violence just as well, probably even more, than arming teachers. A trained officer with a gun sounds a lot scarier than some math teacher with a gun.

Furthermore, giving teachers guns is risky. While some teachers, especially in the areas where there is a push to arm teachers, will be capable of handling and using a gun safely, not all will. Coming from the schools who already arm their teachers, there have been numerous reports of teachers shooting themselves and their students. Recently, in Idaho State University, a teacher’s concealed gun went off in his pocket while teaching a lab, landing a bullet in his foot. In another story, a Utah teacher accidentally shot himself in the school bathroom when his gun discharged into the toilet, thankfully with no students on the premises. Most cases like this are non-fatal, but still massively dangerous.              The other glaring issue with this plan, is that it introduces guns to the school environment. Unstable students are just as potentially dangerous as unstable intruders, if

not more so. If a student with malicious intent gets his hands on the gun of an unsuspecting teacher, a huge threat is created. Putting guns in schools, especially right inside of the classroom, is creating the potential for new threats to be born inside the school, as opposed to coming in from outside. Asking around the school, I’ve heard a spattering of responses. Mrs. Petrosillo is against the arming of teachers, stating that if she was given a gun, she might “accidentally shoot a student who tapped her on the shoulder to ask a question!” When interviewed, Editor-in-Chief Tara Meany told us that she “think[s] it’s a bad idea,” claiming that “having weapons in school would cause more harm than good!” One senior, who asked to remain anonymous, told us that he supported the arming of teachers, stating that he “think[s] it will help protect us from those shady kids.”

Overall, I sympathise with those who want to arm teachers. I’m as worried for the safety of myself and other students as concerned gun proponents are in all likelihood, but putting guns in the hands of teachers is massively overzealous. Before we rise to those extremes, a few changes should be made. First of all, schools need to continue to crack down on safety procedures. Practice hiding, practice evacuating, prime the staff on what to do in the case of an emergency, and how to alert the cops and keep themselves and their students safe. Stricter gun control is necessary. No, I don’t want to ban guns, but the type of people that who shoot up schools should not be able to get guns. I understand that they can easily find ways around this, but every little bit helps. One person being unable to get a gun due to his mental health could mean another class of children saved. Lastly, school security in general could use heightening. Don’t give teachers guns, but make it harder to get into the school, have armed security on grounds to keep an eye out for suspicious characters and, in the case of an emergency, protect the school. I’m all for keeping schools as safe as possible, but I believe that we shouldn’t fight violence with violence unless absolutely necessary.