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Jonah Steinhart

Guns in Class for Teachers - 71 views

started by Jonah Steinhart on 19 Mar 13
  • Ava Mathews
    #3 Ava Mathews on 19 Mar 13
     
    I don't think this is a good idea. I would definitely not feel safer in a school where the teachers were allowed to carry guns. The chances that someone else could get their hands on it or that it could go off on accident are too great, it's too dangerous.
  • liz archer
    #4 liz archer on 19 Mar 13
     
    I have mixed feelings about teachers having firearms in a classroom. On one hand, having guns in a classroom would provide an excellent defense mechanism if in fact people do intrude onto a school campus.On the other hand, having a gun kept in a classroom could provoke crazy kids to try and take the gun (to either play around with it, or actually shoot people), which could end up being extremely dangerous. In this case, teachers should lock the gun in a safe or somewhere out of reach of students, with a lock and key, so that no one could access it unless there is in fact a shooting. Also, if a teacher happens to become crazy and gets fed up with their students, s/he could end up getting angry and shooting kids (worst case scenario). I think that it could be a good idea, but there would need to be safety precautions before issuing guns to teachers.
  • Nic Mosher
    #5 Nic Mosher on 19 Mar 13
     
    If the purpose of having guns in the classroom is to keep people safe, I think the country is moving in the wrong direction. This is not a case where you fight fire with fire. If the country wants less mass shootings, the way you solve that is by stricter gun laws meaning less guns, not just throwing more guns into the equation. Of course the NY Times did a good job because they are professional. Comparing this article to the Bark's article, the main difference is after reading this one is I am not left with any questions.
  • Max Bayer
    #7 Max Bayer on 19 Mar 13
     
    This is a very good article but I think a key detail left out is what type of gun is assigned to the teachers. Obviously a handgun has much less firepower and ammo capacity than an assault rifle, shotgun, or sniper. This detail could easily change people's opinions on whether or not the law is appropriate. Another problem I see with the article is the ending. The whole topic is very serious and the author takes a very serious approach but he ends with anecdotes of people's misuse of firearms which, although it is relevant, can seem very humorous.
  • weston lazarus
    #9 weston lazarus on 19 Mar 13
     
    It's pretty stupid to let school teachers carry guns, there are so manythings that can go wrong, maybe one of the kids gets their hands on it, maybe he drops it and it goes off, maybe he goes crazy. If they are preparing for something like what happened at sandy hook, their not doing it right, if a man comes in with a gun the teachers should not also be firing guns. If they really need guns maybe just have a couple in the back with safty locks on them.
  • Hannah Y
    #10 Hannah Y on 19 Mar 13
     
    It's so hard to have a solid opinion on this. There are many pros and cons. However, this isn't a law that puts guns in the hands of teachers: it's still up to each school whether they want to be part of it, and then they have to go through the local associations and the teachers must be trained. I also didn't know that so many of schools already allow/don't restrict teachers from carrying firearms "It is unclear how many school districts nationwide have teachers carrying guns. Hawaii and New Hampshire do not have any prohibition against carrying weapons on school property for those with concealed carry permits. Texas's law against carrying weapons in school includes an exemption for people whom the school authorizes."
    So do you guys think this is really a radical law? Will it take hold in other states?
  • Zatar Omar
    #12 Zatar Omar on 19 Mar 13
     
    The core idea that South Dakota has is right, in a sense that security should be increased in schools to protect the well being of it's students. I believe that only certain should be allowed the responsibility to carry a gun. Before we allow teachers to hold guns in school, they should definitely be put through law enforcement training but also be put through mental and psychological tests. In order to ensure safety the local government must make sure that teachers capable of holding a gun should be mentally alright. If more procedures arn't taken before arming school teachers then we would just be arming irresponsibly.I feel this article did a good job of stating the pro's and cons of the situation.
  • Gibson Katz
    #13 Gibson Katz on 19 Mar 13
     
    Guns shouldn't be aloud in a classroom, or anywhere but a shooting range. It's not an all or nothing issue.
  • Westler Emblidge
    #14 Westler Emblidge on 21 Mar 13
     
    I just want everyone to imagine this: Foster with a gun.
    WESTLER OUT!
  • Jonah Amargi-Levy
    #15 Jonah Amargi-Levy on 21 Mar 13
     
    I think that it is just mental to have high school teahcers wilding fire arms. students could easily sneak up on the teacher and take the gun and then raise some chaos. I am not for this law.
  • Madeleine Elias
    #17 Madeleine Elias on 22 Mar 13
     
    I'm pretty conflicted about this whole topic. One could argue that the level of reason in allowing teachers to bring guns to school depends on the state. The article mentioned how in South Dakota, kids grow up shooting BB guns and learning how to hunt, which suggests that they have a certain understanding and respect for guns.
    The larger part of me fervently believes that letting teachers have guns in school is a bad idea and a step in the wrong direction. True, it could be a good defense, but there are plenty of things that could go wrong. You don't know how the teachers would use the guns (to what extent, with what attitude, etc), and as Jonah said, there's the possibility of students stealing the guns and raising hell with them. Nic also has a great point with his statement of this not being a "fight fire with fire" case. Guns are tools for violence; I don't see the logic in figuring that having more guns around will result in more safety and non-violence.
  • Meg Weiss
    #19 Meg Weiss on 25 Mar 13
     
    I understand that this is in response to the Connecticut shootings, and it is supposed to provide some means of protection. However, if my teacher had a gun in the classroom, I would not feel safer, I would feel uncomfortable. In addition, it takes a lot for someone to shoot a gun, if an intruder was on campus, the teacher might not use. It is possible, however, for the teacher to use it as a threat to students. Even if they did not use it or show it to the students, just knowing they were armed would make me frightened of the teacher. I think there are other ways to provide more campus security. Schools can hire more campus supervisors who are trained, rather than just giving teachers guns.
  • Holly Parkin
    #20 Holly Parkin on 25 Mar 13
     
    I agree with many of the above comments - the classroom is not a place for guns. As someone said earlier, fighting fire with fire is NOT the way to go with gun control. By making guns readily available to use in the classroom, suppose that if an intruder does break in, they may be able to take the gun from the teacher. The key to controlling school shootings and gun violence is to make guns LESS available, and starting the job in stores and places where they are sold. Intruders should have a lot of difficulty getting access to guns. By putting them in the classroom, it not only makes students feel unsafe, but it also puts everyone in more danger.
  • Caitlin O'Shei
    #22 Caitlin O'Shei on 25 Mar 13
     
    I think that this is an interesting idea. While arming teachers would give them the opportunity to possibly use their guns against students, I think that this situation is pretty unlikely. Although trusting teachers with guns certainly feels very extreme, school administrators are already the people we trust to essentially act as our parents while we're at school. Therefore we already trust teachers to be safe responsible individuals, and trusting them to act that way while armed isn't a totally ridiculous concept. It is clear from the numerous school shootings that have occured that the measures we are taking to secure schools already are not effective. Many people's lives have been lost in these mass shootings and I think that teachers should have the right to defend themselves and their students in effective ways.Obviously teachers would need to take courses and fully understand how to safely handle guns so that they would be effective in an emergency and accidents would not happen. Consider the Sandy Hook shooting, if the teacher who threw herself in front of the gun in order to save her students had been able to defend herself with a gun, her life and countless children's lives could have been saved. Of course guns in the classroom are going to make all of us uncomfortable. But I think that having effective means of defense in classrooms is worth the risk.
  • Billie Mandelbaum
    #25 Billie Mandelbaum on 26 Mar 13
     
    I think the nation's approach towards school security in the wake of the Newton shooting has been irrational. I believe that even new security procedures won't prevent future school shootings.Though the NRA repeatedly states that "guns don't kill people, people kill people," the idea of teachers carrying guns in classrooms will do nothing but militarize schools. Teachers would have to undergo training before having guns at school, however, I wonder how these guns could safely be stored to insure that no accidental shootings occur. I know that I would feel very uncomfortable if I knew there was a gun in my classroom. In order to prevent future gun-related massacres, American politicians need to take initiative by enacting gun-control laws, rather than creating safety protocols--that from looking at the past year in American gun violence, don't prevent gun-related tragedies.
  • Veronica Russell
    #27 Veronica Russell on 26 Mar 13
     
    The article mentions that kids in South Dakota know and respect guns but there is a chance that a few don't. But even more frightening is the possibility of teachers who don't know and/or respect guns, or wildly angry teahcers who snap. This is not a common thing but there is always a possibility. Studies have shown that gun violence in areas significantly decreases when guns are not present at all, not when everyone has guns and knows abouty them. Students should not have gun, teachers should not have guns, no one should have guns. They are just so unsafe.
  • aidan hersh
    #29 aidan hersh on 27 Mar 13
     
    I don't think it's a good idea to have a gun in a classroom, however, the article says that only one person is chosen to have the gun, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a teacher. I personally would feel a lot safer having someone like Ralph or a different person on campus with a gun that had training and could easily prevent bad things from happening on campus. Gun control has become almost irrelevant in the modern world. People who want to get their hands on guns will. With the technology that we have today, like 3D printing, people can easily manufacture and buy guns. If there is a chance that these people will come onto our campus, I would want some sort of immediate protection such as someone with a gun who is already on campus and can respond in a matter of seconds.
  • Morgana Sidhom
    #31 Morgana Sidhom on 28 Mar 13
     
    Guns at school is a bad idea. There is too much room for schools to err on the dangerous side. As the author reference at the end of the article, a school officer was suspended because he accidentally shot his gun in a hallway. Schools should look at states with little gun control legislation and do a comparative analysis of gun- related violence per capita rates of states with heavy gun control legislation to those with none. Although there a few exceptions to the rule, the increased presence of guns can have innumerable consequences, and officials would have to prep the staff for any type of situation, such as what course of action teachers would take if a student got his/her hands on a weapon. Teachers would also have to undergo training which could prove to be expensive and time consuming, and sometimes does not necessarily ensure effectiveness. Rubber bullets may be a worthy compromise, but would still require some extensive planning and legislation. In the end, stricter gun control legislation is the answer, and perhaps more security (not involving guns with lead bullets) would be in order, not making teachers take up arms.
  • Sam Allen
    #32 Sam Allen on 01 Apr 13
     
    Fighting fire with fire never works. Especially not in this case. Promoting the use of firearms at school in order to stop people bringing them in the first place? That just doesn't make sense. If I had a teacher that kept a firearm in the classroom, it wouldn't make me feel any safer. I would feel a lot safer if there was no gun in the classroom and very tight gun control policies outside the classroom. The money spent on buying the firearms for the teachers or the money spent on having to train them to use the weapon correctly could easily be spent on something with educational value to the students.
  • Maile Resta
    #33 Maile Resta on 01 Apr 13
     
    If teachers are crazy enough to deal with a bunch of teenagers, then I wouldn't say all teachers are completely sane. I would not feel safe at all if all my teachers had a gun in the classroom. I really don't think this is a good answer to the problem. Like Gibson said, it is all or nothing. They shouldn't be aloud anywhere but a shooting range.

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