Arming US Teachers: Arguments For and Against

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Cases of school shootings have increased especially with the large number of guns among civilians. A recent case in Sandy Hook in which a crazed individual shot more than 20 students and a teacher is evidence of a disaster that will visit any other school, eventually. Educators and lawmakers have debated the merit of allowing teachers to carry guns in schools in a bid to improve safety in schools. The move would help tame school shootings. This would reduce students death because teachers will stop crazed shooters. However, opponents argue that presence of guns in schools does not increase safety for anyone. Instead, schools need more computers, books, and other learning resources. This paper will demonstrate that arming teachers is a positive step towards curbing rising school shootings by crazed individuals.

Kohn argues that arming teacher is the only way to prevent loss of innocent lives through crazed shooters (6). If some teachers have guns, gunmen would be hesitant to attack schools. The capacity for self-defense will make schools safer for children. Opponents of the move cite the presence and efficiency of calling 911 in case of emergency. Calling 911 is not an option especially when the nearest police station is more than 10 minutes away. Within these 10 minutes, a crazed individual can kill many people.

Chuck Wright, the Sherriff of Spartanburg County in South Carolina, argues that calling 911 is not always the best option in times of emergency. Instead, arming some teachers and training them on gun use will reduce death and injuries. Teachers too deserve a fighting chance whenever confronted by crazed shooters in school. It is illogical to expect teachers to defend children against crazed gunmen while they are also vulnerable. Gunmens intention is to kill and failing to arm some teachers is tantamount to allowing criminals to have their way

Experience shows that arming some teachers with guns will reduce exposure of students to danger. In 1997, a crazed student decided to open fire to his colleagues in Pearl High School. He killed two students before the armed assistant principal of the school could intervene. It would have been catastrophic if the teacher did not have a gun. The crazed student would certainly have shot more students before the arrival of police. A different scenario played out in Sandy Hook. Victoria Soto was helpless before a crazed shooter. All she could do was lie that children are in the gym. If she had a gun, she could probably have saved her live and many more. Those against arming teachers argue that schools will transform into battlefields and hurt more, deliberately or inadvertently. Experiences point to the contrary. Schools that have some of their teachers armed are saver than those with no armed teachers.

It is impossible to fight fire without fire. Arming some teachers with guns will make students feel more secure and thus concentrate more in class (Exploring Gun Use in America 12). Kohn conducts a study on students worst fear in schools and report that attack by gunmen ranks among the highest (3). Most schools in America rely on resource officers to protect students. However, some schools have a high number of students and one resource officer would not be useful. In Arkansas for instance, Clarksville High School has one armed resource officer to guard 600 students (Spitzer 5).

This does not inspire safety among students. Arming some teachers will go a long way to making students feel secure. This is because students would entrust teachers with their security more than they would entrust it to another person (Lott 5). There are those who argue that teachers should focus on their core role of teaching and leave security to trained professionals. This smacks of extreme naivety considering that gunmen strike when least expected. While it is important to observe security measures like reporting suspicious characters, it is no harm being prepared in case of lapses in early detection.

Kenneth Trump, Canadas President of National School Safety and Security Services, makes a strong case against arming teachers. He argues that arming teachers is tantamount to imposing a liability that teachers are untrained for. To him, the few hours of training teachers in gun handling amounts to deriding security professionals. Teachers training inculcates values that are antithetical to security officers training. It is thus difficult for teachers to transform from their supportive and nurturing role and develop the mindset of a killer within a flash of a second.

As persuasive as it is, the argument by the school safety veteran misses the key point on arming teachers. Arming some teachers and training them on gun handling does not usurp the role of trained security officers. Rather, teachers complement security officers. It is the teacher, not security officer, who is in contact with the students most of the times. In Sandy Hook, the gunmen bypassed security officers before unleashing heinous acts on children. In Pearl High School, the gunman was an insider. An Armed teacher stands a better chance, as a last resort, to protect students.

Arming teachers with guns is admittedly not the panacea to gunmen attacking schools. In America, there are more guns in the hands of civilians than in any other country in the world. This means that children are at risk even at home. All stakeholders need to sit together and come up with a holistic solution to the problem of crazed gunmen in schools. However, as a precautionary measure, some teachers should have guns in schools for self-defense. Sandy Hook incidence is a testimony that tragedy can strike any time and schools need to be prepared. It is therefore imperative that some teachers possess guns to protect children.

Works Cited

Exploring Gun Use in America. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2004. Print.

Kelly, Taylor. Should Teachers Carry Guns? Principal Leadership Journal 8.1 (2008): 1-3. Print.

Kohn, Abigail. Shooters: Myths and Realities of Americas Gun Cultures, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.

Lott, John. More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Print.

Spitzer, Robert. Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide, Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2009. Print.

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Arming US Teachers: Arguments For and Against

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