I was sent this by my good friend, Dr. Anthony Dallman-Jones. “Tony” is the Director, At-Risk and Alternative Education MAE Program – MarianUniversity.edu.
Used with permission
Today, I read that Ohio is passing a law to arm teachers, and requiring only 5% of the training that police officers receive. And only 1/6 of that 5% is on gun handling – four hours.
We need to step back and objectively look at what will happen if we arm teachers…the list is practically endless. The obvious “surface issues” are the ones that most politicians are interested in… the soundbite mentality. “Protect our children!” Who could disagree with the phrase? People who only see this must dislike thinking too much. And, if ever there was an issue in education I would want people thinking a LOT about, it would be around the concept of officially implanting guns into the school environment.
Let’s examine some of the issues that arming teachers would raise – issues that politicians in favor of this fail to list. Often the side issues will overpower and undermine what some call the “Central Issue” – in this case, teachers packing guns to protect themselves and their students.
Here are a few of the side issues to consider:
1) There ARE teachers simply not mentally fit to do this. You have had them. I have had them. Think of all your teachers: I bet you can easily name the ones you would not want in charge of a pistol in their classroom!
2) Guns being stolen by students… teachers’ desks get rifled (no pun intended) all the time by students. (Many would agree that you would not lock up your pistol, or why have it?)
3) Every professional who wears a gun will tell you this: Never “pull” a gun unless you are ready to shoot someone immediately! If you start waving a gun around more than likely it will be taken from you, then used on you – and probably others.
4) Stray shots, poor aim, ricochets, traveling bullets (right through the drywall and into the next classroom).
5) Training of teachers to utilize guns…this takes MUCH time. Some schools have over 100 faculty. Shooting ranges are few and far between.
6) Cost of guns…ammo…holsters – who will pay for it?
7) Failure to do proper gun maintenance/ammo rotation/ammo choices: Hollow points? Bird shot? Dumdum bullets?
8) What do you do if a kid sneaks it from your holster, drawer, purse, or closet, and starts waving it around? This WILL happen.
9) Insurance! Think of Blue Cross Blue Shield and State Farm clauses on this for a laugh.
10) The gun goes home with the teacher and makes it accessible to children, spouses, and accidents.
11) Every teacher’s house has a big red X over it – a target for break-ins because thieves KNOW a gun is there for the stealing.
12) Special training: More than likely the specific situation a teacher will face will not have been covered. It won’t be a comic book story. The bad guy won’t wear a black T-shirt with big white block letters that say, “I am the shooter! Shoot me right here! ===> X <===.”
13) A BIG ONE: You have to be mentally prepared to take a life. Teachers are, by nature, in the service of improving lives, not taking them.
14) What kind of mindset does it create in a kindergarten teacher toting a pistol around while teaching children how to print?
15) How much time will this take away from an already overstuffed curriculum day?
16) How will this impact a classroom’s learning atmosphere?
17) What is the ultimate effect on this noble profession? When we intelligently start something, we should know how it ends.
18) 75% of teachers are women…are they going to have a gun on their hip, in a shoulder holster, in their purse?
19) Whatever issues I have listed here can probably be doubled with all the issues I have yet to think of.
A big takeaway here is that, as usual, we are trying to make teachers – who are set up to be fairly powerless outside of their content areas – responsible for society’s ills. With a gun.
So, the answer to the headline of this article: “NO” to the idea of strapping guns on teachers.
Another response is: “Really a dumb option!” (and schools stand against dumbness as a rule.)