More than 270 gun sightings have been reported in schools in the year of 2016 (Mascia). Overall, more than fifty million kids walk into school with firearms everyday, but nobody knows about it. Why? Because most school officials do not have enough rights to search through students’ belongings if they have suspicion about something. Schools should have the right to search students’ belongings because of behavior, ownership, and safety. Schools should have the right to search students’ belongings because of the safety of other students in school. Many school shootings could have been avoided if school officials were able to search belongings of the kids at school, with reasonable suspicion. In the 2016 school year alone, there were almost 300 reports of firearms on school property (Mascia). These were only reported sightings of firearms though. If the count was already that high, nobody knows the amount of firearms people bring in on a daily basis. It is important to not have privacy rights in school because it could prevent much of the dangerous situations that happen in schools on a week to week basis. The state of Florida has had the highest count of gun related incidents, with twenty-eight reportings (Mascia). This shows that the Florida state may have strict privacy rules about searching students’ belongings. All of this information goes to show that if the rules were a little more lenient and allowed school officials to search students’ belongings under reasonable suspicion, then so many school shootings could have been prevented. Some people may think that schools are safe enough as is, but nearly two shootings occur within the span of one week (Everytown Research). This shows that if school officials were allowed to search belongings, the school would be known as a safe place or kids of all ages. Kids’ safety in school is one of the reasons why there should be no limits to searching students.
Another reason why school should have the right to search students’ belongings because of ownership. Everything inside of a public school belongs to the school. Chairs, desks, whiteboards, etc. Sometimes, students forget that the lockers are also part of school property. About forty-one percent of high school
Such actions that may violate a student’s constitutional rights as a citizen would be an administrator or school law enforcement searching a student or their personal belongings for unjustified reasons while in school. The boundaries of the fourth amendment are very complicated when dealing with the rights of students being that the school systems have
Some are afraid that by placing guns in school zones, more deaths and homicides will occur. That by giving administrators guns the chance of a shooting will increase tremendously, but the truth is by not placing guns on school property, we are increasing the chance of having our children and loved ones being shot. By allowing our administrators to carry guns in schools, we decrease the chance of someone walking into that school and possibly injuring or killing our students and teachers. The Superintendent David Hopkins of the Arkansas district stated “ The plan we’ve been given in the past is ‘Well, lock your doors, turn off your lights and hope for the best’ That’s not a plan”(“Guns in School” #2). Locking the doors and hoping for the best is not the best way to protect the students and teachers. Arming a number of administrators and allowing them to protect themselves and students is the best way to be
There have been 205 school shootings in America since 2013. This is a fact that has many people worried, and many people have tried coming up with ways to prevent these school shootings, or to at least defend themselves. Many say that people should be allowed to carry a gun with them, and in some states, there are laws that let them do this called open carry laws where they can carry a gun in public. But is this the right solution to gun violence? Many people ask this question and try to come up with other solutions. Students should not be allowed to carry guns for three reasons. The first being that it could make it easier for real shooters to have a gun, the second reason is that these people who have guns looking to defend themselves could
You go to school to be educated by your teachers and peers. It brings unnecessary tensions and can cause problems. Students, teachers, and other staffs shouldn’t be able to bring guns to school. Who’s to say that person carrying around an assault weapon doesn’t have an unstable problem? We don’t know what is on someone’s mind or what they are capable of. Anyone could be having a bad day and decide to threaten someone with a gun. These kinds of circumstances should be made clear to the public and be banned from educational schools. Guns are used as protection, but they may be misapplied to be used as violence. There are more rational ways we could go about this such as; investing in more security guards or police enforcement. Needless to say, guns are dangerous especially when in the hands of a deadly person. What's more important, the second amendment or the lives of our teachers and students? Ultimately guns have no place to be in or around a school
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.
There have been many pieces of legislation on the state level and on the congressional level regarding guns on school property. A very polarized piece of legislation was introduced in the Nevada Senate. Nevada Senate Bill 286 was created in response to several violent acts involving school shootings (Taylor, 2008). The bill would have given teachers the right to possess and carry guns on school property regardless if the school is a gun-free zone as long as the teacher possessed proper permits the bill specifically required the teacher to possess a concealed weapon permit along with a proof of completion of a specific firearm training program (“SB286,” n.d.). The bill did not pass in the Nevada Senate, but the bill did help to start the much-needed conversation about the ineffectiveness methods of the prevention of school shootings.
Many students in America, might consider school almost like a home because they spend about half a day in. We need students to be safe at school, so why not have an officer patrolling the hallways. To make the school much safer, the officers should have guns in case there is a threat towards the students. In the eyes of many United State citizens a gun can symbolize death; however, a gun can save several people’s lives. As U.S citizens, we have the right to keep and bear arms, so why do we not have police officers with guns patrolling schools. “Gun violence is a major social issue in America and American schools and university campuses have become targets of gun violence” (Bond). In the U.S we had several severe situations when someone comes to the school and starts to kill not only students, but teachers and staff, this could have been prevented if we were prepared and secured. Although the opposition may suggest it could be more dangerous to have an officer or guard be allowed with a gun; however, having an officer with a gun would decrease the number of shootings and other minor problems at schools.
Guns are becoming one of the top issues in the newspapers (The Monroe Evening News). There have been 394 incidents of students bringing guns to school in the United States since 1998 (Sutton). Legislators say that the law cannot prevent the tragedy of the fatal shootings in the schools
The safety of schools have been tested more in the recent years with news coverage of the most recent incident in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where twenty children and six staff members lost their lives. With the recent rise of school shootings it is no wonder parents are concerned for their children’s safety in schools. Where drugs and peer pressure were once major concerns, in today’s society, we worry about our children dying in the hands of armed shooters. While there is much controversy over how to protect the future of America’s children, lawmakers are supporting a bill to allow armed guards to stand and protect our children in the school systems by creating laws to allow armed security in the schools. “The Indiana amendment's sponsor, Rep. Jim Lucas (R), said he believes mass shootings like the one in Newtown could be prevented by more firearms.” (Resmovits, 2013). In support of armed guards, the National Rifle Association has paid for research
Laws are in place for different reasons and it is important that they are followed, especially in schools. Everyone knows that certain drugs, like marijuana, are illegal in some states. Though marijuana has been legalized in multiple states around the country, it is still illegal to have or use it on school grounds. Allowing searches of school property will ensure that this illegal drug stays away from schools. Another important law that must be followed deals with the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment states that everyone has the right to bear arms, but there are circumstances. These circumstances include having a permit and carrying weapons on school grounds. Weapons do not belong on school grounds under any circumstances. The presence of weapons can lead to violence and even school shootings. There have been too many school shootings, across the country in the last couple of years, and allowing police units to search the schools could prevent these
It cannot be disputed that schools often have to place the privacy of one student, below the overall need to secure the safety of a student body as a whole. If students know that their belongings can be searched, it will discourage them from committing illegal activities at school.
When the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court they ruled in a 6-3 margin in favor of the State of New Jersey. They agreed that the student’s 4th Amendment had not been violated and the search of personal possessions can apply to school officials, as long as the search is reasonable.
“ A 20 - year old man armed with an AK- 47- style rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition entered an elementary school in Decatur, Ga, on Aug. 20 and fired off a few rounds but surrendered before anyone was injured” (Toppo, 2013, para.2). Because of school shooting like Sandy Hook and many others, schools all around are finding ways to become more prepared in case of this kind of tragedy. Many options have been discussed but a common idea to keep students and staff safe in schools is allowing teachers and administrators to be licenced and to conceal a gun on school property. “While many national organizations have rejected the idea, it is now being seriously weighed by some school boards and state lawmakers across the nation” (Shah, 2013, para.5). Teachers and Administrators should be allowed to carry guns on school property because police stations are too far away and It will increase the amount of safety when given proper training.
It seems that gunmen can walk freely in schools at present. Too many murders with assault rifles and pistols happened in campus. The Americans laying down under gunfire are not troopers patrolling in Middle East threating by terrorism, but children having classes and playing with friends in campus. Every police officer and nurse cannot forget the tears left on faces of who can never see the sun of tomorrow and even celebrate their 10-year birthdays. Arguments about an old topic of limiting guns and weapons are now rising again; but this time, parents turn to be main supporting force of such prohibition. Emphasizing the right of owning weapons, which is protected by US Constitution, or at least, an amendment, some people are still the resisting power against any forms of restriction of firearms. However, even ignoring the fact that related laws are actually outdated, some actions seem to be necessary for protecting children away from malice of weapon keepers. Therefore, the restrictions of assault weapons should be considered to put onto the agenda due to the excessive power of assault weapons, the obsolete background check system helping proliferation of firearms, and erroneous interpretation of constitution of private arms by opponents.
It is without a doubt that there has been an increase in violent crimes in schools throughout recent years. School shootings continue to become more and more common, especially in North America. Safety concerns for any and all students and staff in schools are at all all time high due to the high number of fatal and non-fatal occurring incidences. Since 2013 to the present, it is estimated that the United States has seen approximately 205 school shootings. Weekly, that is a shocking one shooting on average. Many of these shootings have resulted in the injuries and deaths of multiple of students and staff members. (Everytown Research, 2017) Evidently, school shootings are tragic events that affect so many more people than just the victims. However, these events are also interesting to look at from the psychological and sociological point of views. Through much research, it can be concluded that school shootings are a complex problem that are caused by a mix of improper brain development and societal and media influences which motivate school shooters to emerge. Psychological factors may include struggling with mental illnesses and/or abuse that leads to damaged brain development. Additionally, being bullied and/or the role of the media are examples of sociological factors.