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Should teachers be allowed to have guns at schools
Introduction
Should teachers be allowed to have guns at schools is a case which has ignited numerous discussions in the community. This issue came into the limelight after a tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary school. The purpose of the guns at schools is protection; teachers feel secure as well as ensure students and pupils their security. Apart from the matters concerning the security of our children, being reasonable is key as well. Very few parents will allow their children to learn in an environment full of deadly weapons such as guns. In this paper, we are going to look at the pros and cons of allowing teachers to possess guns in the school environment.
It was the 14th day of December the year 2012 when an armed man invaded the Sandy Hook Elementary. This incident left more persons dead while others injured. The reason for such a move is yet to be known. Children who lost their lives were very young, knowing nothing at their tender age. Legislature out of impulse considered the idea of allowing teachers to be armed to protect such innocent being during such occurrences.
At the moment we have a number of schools who have upheld this legislation. The pioneer school was the Harrold Independent School District located in Harrold, Texas. In their well-discussed process, they came to an agreement that twenty-five of their members of staff should be armed at school with guns. The knowledge of who is carrying a gun was not to be disclosed to anyone. The nearest police station to this school is about thirty miles away. The distance is quite big during an emergency, thus the need for immediate enforcement of the legislation. The process of acquiring a gun involved; the teacher should first procure a license then undergo a series of training before being allowed to carry the weapon to a public facility such as school.
Statistics from the Time Magazine has it that only 2% of youth homicide are experienced in schools. From the finding, it is clear that the probability of a shooting taking place in an institution is very minimal. When an incident takes place the teacher and other staffs who are armed may be found unaware thus not saving the situation. Knotty students on the other side might try to imitate their teacher and bring guns to school. When this weapon is in school and under unsafe hands they might cause harm to the innocent parties. As a result of this killings will increase in such schools instead of reducing. On the other side, the guns possessed by the teachers might be stolen thus raising tension in the environment. Presence of weapons in the school environment will make them be viewed as prisons; where the students are prisoners to the teachers. Can we find better alternatives to this problem? Are parent at ease when they send their kids to an environment full of guns? This is some of the questions this paper is going to deal on.
Why Not
Schools in a place for learning for children. The kids should feel safe in such environment for them to perform well. Schools should be heavens where everything is pleasant and good. Going by this view gives us the simplest reason for not allowing guns in presence of our kids. Presence of weapons in any place intimidate the occupants of the place. Teachers may even threaten their students when allowed to handle such crude weapons. Students feel as if they are prisoners as teacher’s warden then.
In classroom teachers should teach by example apart from following the curriculum. Situations where teachers show bad influence. Definitely, a community with bad morals will be brought up. Recently most parents have left the parenting responsibility to teachers. Therefore they should not be seen publicly holding such weapons, leave alone using them in case of an attack. Teacher gets a hard time convincing students against owning a gun since themselves have one.
Having a gun makes one feel secure, but those living around you fear for their lives on the contrary. In cases where a teacher becomes careless and abandons his gun where the kids can access it, the lives of this students are put in danger. Naïve kids may think that it is a toy which ends up injuring them. On the other hand, mischievous students can also dupe their teacher so as to get hold of the weapon which is dangerous when in such hands. During an attack the teacher due to lack of enough practice, might miss his target and hits the wrong person. Such unintentional mistakes make this policy sound improper from the word go. From statistic, the number of missed targets committed by the police has risen to up to 20%. This is a very high number considering their training and experience at work. This show that chances of a teacher missing the target are much higher than this. Gun firing involving a school employee and an attacker will cause more harm than it should due to the high frequency of stray bullets in the process.
How trustworthy are teachers to be trusted with such crude weapons? Are there any risks of such trusts to our kids as well as us the parents and other members of the community? Children are the future of a nation, therefore, their lives should not be taken for granted. A teacher might be stressed at work and direct his disappointment towards his students. In such a case many innocent lives are lost including that of the teacher. After such a silly mistake the teacher knows that he will face the government and penalized dearly. This though will force him to commit suicide. Troubles increase with having guns within reach. Some argue that having guns at school will warn and prevent students from engaging in dangerous acts. The move might be miscalculated leading to a tempered teacher turning hid wrath towards other teachers and students. Innocent teacher and students lose their lives in the process. Such risks are costly and are not worth taking.
The idea that where there are guns there is safety is cultivated when they are allowed in schools. Students are misled with such statements. From this simple misunderstandings in school might arouse the use of guns to resolve. Students will not cool down unless they hear gunshots in the vicinity. As they look upon their teacher resolving conflicts using their guns, they are encouraged to come to school with theirs when settling scores.
Why Yes
There is a difference between a good guy with a gun and a bad guy with the same gun. A good person will use such a weapon to protect himself and friends. Cases of violence are believed to reduce if we have guns in our schools. A terrorist is scared away when facing an armed opponent or target. This fear comes with a sense of safety within the school compound. Due to such reason many teachers have viewed this as their right. They champion for it out of the love they have for their students and fellow colleagues. Some even blame themselves where they lost their friends on their watch. That notion that they were at the crime scene and could not help out haunts them day in day out.
The safety of our children should be the first priority in our lives, but we have many ways of doing it. Carrying a weapon is okay, but they should be as lethal as Guns. The use of mace and bean bag guns can do as much work in keeping away shooters as guns can. Metal detectors are also another good method of stopping entry of deadly weapons into our institutions. Some shooting is from mentally challenged persons, therefore introducing mental health in our schools might also reduce the number of this incidences. Counselling classes as well help in calming down those offended in one way or another. After exhausting all avenues of keeping safe the student, the gun resolution should come last. The gun should be under the custody trained and responsible individual. The government should also legislate laws that make it mandatory for any institution to have a police officer to maintain law and order within and without the school.
