Arming teachers: Some think the idea has merit

We need to arm our teachers with more money in their pockets.

School systems can add a quota standard to their hiring practices of how many teachers and/oradministrators they hire must have former military or law enforcement background.

Some teachers are out of shape. “It shouldn’t be that hard for a school to … deputize some teachers as armed security officers”, Volokh says, adding that a school system would probably want to put such language through the legislature to be safe. What happens if the teacher accidentally places their gun on their desk, and a much faster student runs over and steals it? They have been through training and own their own weapons. If there is a firearm in a classroom, even if it is under lock and key, it could still be accessed by a student. They’re overworked, lack sleep, and can barely keep their eyes open without four gallons of coffee.

Neither Trump nor the White House has said who would pay to train them, but the decision would be “up to states”.

It is also interesting to note that, like the majority of teachers, school resource officers are dead against the idea of arming educators. The National Education Association claimed that only 22 percent of its members support training and arming educators. They want to, but it’s not for everyone.

This empty boast is from the same Trump who failed the bravery test during the Vietnam War by dodging the draft – not for principle but because the poor guy had “bone spurs” on one foot (he can’t remember which). As the president himself stated Monday in suggesting he would have rushed into the Florida school unarmed, “You don’t know until you test it”. “‘Trump wants teachers to have guns'”.

The first sign that a mass shooting is occurring is after shots are fired, and, in nearly all cases, that means innocent people are already dead. There’s nothing in the lesson plans about shooting an intruder. Sometimes they err – and tragedies happen. “Let’s do some preventive measures because the way to combat violence is not to have more violence”. In the case of Parkland, the 19 year old obviously wanted to get out alive – and he did.

“You need guns in the hands of competent people”. Even if the weapon is acting as a form of protection against a threat, it introduces and preserves the idea of threat and fear into the school’s culture. During this training, police recruits spend about 110 hours on firearm skills and self-defense.

If a shooter knows people in a building are definitely armed and he does not know who, this fact will definitely impact the shooter before he enters the building.

It is in the fog of this discussion that we are unable to hold real conversations about the gun problem we face, and what real solutions we can achieve to lessen the bloodshed. Could you imagine a parent-teacher conference escalating that far?

Besides the major U.S. teachers’ unions, the proposal also drew criticism from Shannon Watts, the head of one of the leading gun control groups, Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America. It’s probably not a good idea for anybody in a classroom except a police officer to have a gun. Then we have mainstream media that broadcast these incidents over and over not because they care, but because it garners them viewers. It’s a good idea because…

There are other solutions to begin to remedy the national disgrace of school shootings. This includes allowing well-trained and certified school personnel to carry concealed firearms.

Laura MacArthur Elementary third-grade teacher Emily Glomski said one job of a teacher is to create a safe school culture by promoting kindness and inclusivity. We want to teach.

Frank Lea is a freelance writer. The position taken does not reflect the opinions of everyone on the Hilltop Views staff.