Allowing Teachers To Carry: Violence In Schools

Violence in schools With the violence in schools, the question of allowing teachers to carry concealed handguns should be asked. Allowing teacher to carry concealed handguns on school grounds is an unsafe idea that would only make matters worse. Violence in schools is a big problem and comes in many different forms. In Nancy Day’s book, Violence in Schools: Learning in Fear, she talks about why students don’t always feel that they are in a safe environment. Statistics show that a school crime is committed every six seconds. That is six hundred crimes every hour, and of all the crimes in the United States, about eleven percent are crimes in school. In a school poll, about sixteen percent of the students had said they have been in a physical
First of all, there is a large risk of misuse of these weapons. Published in the Greenhaven Press, Rostron, Allen and Brian Seibels’ article, Arming Teachers Will Not Reduce School Violence, talks about how much more damaging teachers with guns could be. Teachers are not trained to use guns, and it is not part of the job description. They could accidently shoot someone unintended in the cross fire, and there is no guarantee that they would actually shoot a student (Rostron). There are many risks, not to mention the large sums of money, needed to fund this plan. If a teacher can get a hold of this gun, who is to say that a student couldn’t? Another issue is that a teacher who has a gun could potentially become a target for the shooter; putting not only the teacher at risk but also the students they are trying to protect. Teachers aren’t supposed to carry guns to school, that’s why there are school police on campus. Asking a teacher to hold such a responsibility is only looking for
In Harold, Texas, there is a school that has allowed its teachers to carry concealed handguns. They are all trained and certified and have the support of the superintendent. The superintendent believes that this is a necessary precaution to keep their campus safe (“Up” 7+). This school is just one of the many schools that have allowed their teachers to carry these guns. The National Rifle Association has released a program to train and teach teachers how to use a handgun. “The NRA provided more than $1million to fund the research,” says Kucinich. There was also a bill passed to give forty million dollars to schools to get updated cameras, fences, and bulletproof glass for schools, but Congress has yet to pass a bill mandating guns in schools. (Kucinich) There are programs that want to help fund this idea, but even so there are still schools that haven’t permitted guns on their