Armed Teachers: Superheroes of the Future?

School should be a place of peace and opportunity, but gaps in the system of gun control threatens the safety of faculty and students. School shootings have killed a total of 297 lives, young and old (Slate Magazine). Gun control has been a continuous nationwide debate for many years. It seems that no one wants to take a stance against guns unless they are personally affected. In order to take control of the matter and prevent more incidents from continuing schools need to change. To achieve a safe environment in schools need to educate faculty, safe and students, heighten security, and assess mental health issues.

Imagine the notion of being defenseless against an individual holding the purpose of wreaking mass devastation on the students and faculty inside of a school. In 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut endured a tragedy that carries historical significance to the notion of shielding those inside of a classroom in a worst-case situation. When twenty-six students had their life taken away during a school massacre, the thought of permitting teachers to carry handguns during class drew more consideration than ever. The safety of the students inside of a school facility may be in jeopardy as manifested in school shootings such as the ones which transpired at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Virginia Tech, where thirty-two students and teachers lost their lives (History.com). While many feel that presenting teachers with handguns may prove harmful to safety efforts, inflicting such standards would provide instructors and students equally with enhanced protection and overall security.

During the past few years, the number of school shootings has increased markedly. In 2013, there were 19 school shootings that occurred, taking so many innocent lives. Some may remember the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 14th, 2013. It was the second deadliest massacre shooting in United States history, behind the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre. Adam Lanza shot twenty children, six staff, his mother, and himself that day. School shootings are tragic. Violence continues to increase with these shootings, as well as with violence within the schools among the students. The big question is, how do we protect ourselves from these horrible occurrences? How do teachers protect the innocent lives of their students? One common suggestion is for the teachers and administration to be armed. The premise is that if the school staff has possession of firearms this would discourage shooters, thereby making the schools much safer. However, it is my belief that teachers should not be able to have access to weapons. There should never be any type firearm on a school property, excluding trained security personnel, such as police officers and security guards.

Should teachers be trusted to take on the tremendous responsibility that comes with bearing arms? Due to the frequency of school shootings in the past decade, the idea of arming teachers has become more prominent. The dilemma that often arises is whether or not arming teachers will prevent more problems than it will cause. David Person, author of “Instead of arming teachers, hire police” points out in USA Today that, “Slightly more than 60% of Americans oppose arming teachers, according to one poll.” There are numerous reasons as to why teachers should not be armed. To begin, teachers were not hired to be first responders. Additionally, teachers being armed can potentially cost more lives and result in teachers having to cope with shooting

For example, in 1999 thirteen people, including a teacher, were murdered at Columbine High School. Nine years later tragedy struck again at Virginia Tech University where 32 people were gunned down including five staff members. Most recently, a gunman killed 20 innocent elementary students along with six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut (Rostron 439-440). LSUA cannot be the next school to be added to this list. Schools are supposed to be a safe place for everyone and not a high risk danger zone. These school shootings have sparked debates whether or not teachers should be allowed to carry guns in schools to protect themselves, as well as students (Rostron 440). Although guns can do bad things, they can do good things like saving lives. National Rifle Association Vice President Wayne LaPierrce says “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” (Rostron 441-442). Politicians and the media want us to believe that more harm is done with guns than good and make us believe it’s the gun’s fault it killed someone, not the person who shot then gun (Rostron 454). My solution to fix LSUA’s small amount of security around campus and the

Mass shootings have become one of the most fearful events that could happen in elementary schools, high schools, and College campuses. These violent actions committed by a number of individuals have happened for many years and will continue happening unless prevented. Individuals like James Holmes opened fire in a Colorado movie theater, killing twelve individuals and injuring twenty, John Sawahri shot five students dead in Santa Monica College also injuring four individuals. However Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold executed the most horrific act of school violence in United States History. These two individuals managed to take the lives of twelve students, a teacher and managed to take their own life in the process. This act of crime has spread through America, leaving no one safe.

In Troutdale, Oregon June 10, 2014 a 15-year-old High School freshman brought an assault rifle to school and shot 14-year-old freshman Emilio Hoffman. Two school resource officers, Nick Thompson and Kyle Harris, were armed security guards at the high school during the shooting. The school Resource Officers were able to respond as armed security before the shooter was able to fire additional rounds into classmates. This timely response should be required for all educational establishments that are prime targets for mentally disturbed gun owners (Barkoukis, Leah). According to a survey asking 100 LBCC student if they agree with campus security to be armed, 72% responded in favor of armed staff (Survey). Only 12% of students disagreed with

Due to the high number of recent school shootings and gun related discharges, 56% of Americans have come to expect these terrible incidents according to a poll conducted by CBS news. A debate has grown in the United States, whether to arm and train the public school teachers using federal funds. Under the right circumstances it has the potential to be a good idea but there are many issues with the situation. Such as the cost and accuracy of arming teachers, the abuse that could go on due to intimidation as well as the fact there is a better solution that would benefit the students of Texas better than just their teachers toting around a gun.

Is arming teachers a productive solution against future school shootings? Teachers carrying guns in school is currently a controversial issue in America, especially after a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which killed seventeen people on February 14th, 2018. Many people firmly encourage the idea that teachers should be allowed to bring guns to school because teachers can protect students if a shooting happens on-campus. Nevertheless, a lot of people wrestle with the idea of armed educators. Specifically, a strong disagreement from many teachers is because teachers’ duty is to educate students, and teachers are not police officers. Another opposition from students is they believe that “arming teachers

Soon after the 1999 massacre, school lockdowns became widespread and ushered new security measures in school across the U.S. The effort of installing Lockdowns were strengthened after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Instructors and staff members applied these safety procedures to protect students at the school. Students were swept into the storage closets and behind bookcases where they would hide until the situation is fully resolved. Today, instructors are advised to snap off the lights, lock the doors and usher students into closets and corners while the school officials contact the police. In this locked room, students' text one another, play cards or board games or just wait until they are told everything is back to normal. Indeed, since the Columbine shooting, 32 states have enacted laws demanding schools to perform lockdown drills to keep students safe from intruders (Muschert 11). However, over the years, in the past decade, shooting has increased. The introduction of lockdown drills has not materialized in today’s setting as gun control laws have failed. The massive ownership of guns allowed in the Second Amendment of the U.S Constitution has promoted school shootings. Today, students have access to guns from parents and there is no minimum age for owning a long gun. It means even a child can own a rifle. The weakness of legal ownership of guns in the U.S is clear. So, even with

Over the past several years gun violence in schools has been led into many news stories. From the 1999 Columbine Shooting in Colorado to the Sandy Hook Massacre in Massachusetts, the death of students by armed intruders has ignited a debate among many Americans. At the root of this argument is the question: Should teachers and school staff be armed? Some argue schools would be safer if this occurs. The fact of the matter is; it would make schools a more dangerous place to be. Placing untrained individuals into a stressful school environment where their decisions have life or death consequences is a horrible idea.

We never thought that a day would come where parents would be weeping over their child’s death, and such little hands could hold such a weapon that determines if a person lives or not. School shootings are on the rise more than ever in today’s society. We imagine school to be a place where we make new friends, learn about our society and gain an education. We all picture a safe place where our future all begins. Lately we often ask ourselves why do high school shootings occur and what goes on behind the minds of these individuals. As an average American we often overlook things and say “that could never happen at my school, school shootings rarely happen”. Communities all over the county live in fear of school shootings. Instead, we should feel secure in sending our children to school and not be afraid of what happens at school five days a week, seven hours each day. American schools have now become a dangerous place and high school shootings have been occurring all over the county leading to more and more deaths each year. Due to the number of school shootings each year we often have to ask ourselves who are these shooters and why do these events occur?

School shootings have been happening all over the country for the past four decades, but it wasn’t until the 1990’s what the impact from experiencing a trauma of this magnitude can do both psychological and psychically started coming to light as well as creating more national attention for the arising problem in our nation. In 1998 in small town in Oregon, Kip Kinkel walked into Thurston High School killing four and wounded twenty-three students and in 1999 in Colorado at Columbine High School Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into school killing fifteen and wounded twenty-one, making it the worst school shooting of the decade. Fast forward to 2007 and we’re in Virginia at the small college campus of Virginia Tech, were Seung-Hui Cho opened fire killing thirty two and wounding many more while then in 2008 at Northern Illinois University Steven Kazmierczak walked into Cole Hall killing five and injuring twenty one.

These shootings resulted in 45 deaths and 78 nonfatal gunshot injuries. In 32 percent of these incidents at least one person died. “Many schools throughout the United States have installed metal detectors to tighten security for students.” (Devore). Families of the victims at Sandy Hook have spoken against gun violence and have pushed for stricter gun laws in Connecticut and across the U.S. “Guns are designed for one thing only-and the more of them there is, the greater the chance of someone getting hurt.” (Brady) “Among the tens of thousands of shootings involving young people in resent years it is those occurring within school house walls that have sent the greatest shock wave through the nation. “ (Sugarmann, Josh) How many lives will be lost before the government can put a stop to all the

If a tighter restriction is placed on gun control, thus making it harder for individuals to obtain their own personal firearm, our elementary and secondary schools would be more sheltered and secure. On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza a “socially awkward” twenty year old went rogue. Lanza went on a shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut which resulted in the death of twenty kindergarten children, four educators, the principle and the school’s psychologist. The mass murder ended when Lanza turned the gun on himself; just before the horrific massacre Lanza shot his mother to death in their home a couple minutes away from the elementary school. Regulating gun control would make schools much safer than the society as a whole.