I saw a political add last week that really upset me. It was a local Las Vegas candidate that was trying to allow teachers to carry guns at school. I had a short conversation about it with a friend of mine who supported this idea and her point was that kids are carrying guns to school, so teachers should also, for protection. I went on the Internet this morning to read more about this and found that about 95 percent of people are opposed to this idea. I also looked for articles where teachers had been shot by students. I only found one article from Florida. I for one do not understand this notion at all. The fact that kids are carrying guns to school, for me is just another reason why teachers should not. We don't need more guns at school, we need less. More guns only increases the odds of an unnecessary shooting. There are just too many scenarios running through my mind of a teachers gun hitting the wrong student, or the teachers gun getting into the hands of a student, or a teachers gun going off accidentally. I don't normally express my political views, or rant about these kind of topics, however, I am wondering what other people think about this idea, and why. At this point, I do know that if teachers were allowed to carry guns at my childrens school, I would pull them out immediately.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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2 comments:
I am a teacher in California. NO ONE--including teachers--should have weapons of any kind at school. You're right, Erin, guns are trouble, and can cause more trouble than they solve in a school. There is already trouble with students taking things from teacher's desks and cupboards--little things like candy, disciplinary stamps, office passes, stealing things like ipods, phones, wallets, etc. They shouldn't have access to dangerous weapons. Kids don't realize how quickly their actions get out of control and once they lose control of a situation, they can't figure out how to fix things that go differently than they imagined. Events quickly spiral from cool adventure to dangerous disaster in seconds and having guns on campus makes for a dangerous scenario in my mind. I'm sure that if teachers were allowed to have guns, they would have to have permits, training, and guns would have to be kept in locked containers in locked cupboards, but by the time a student opened fire, getting to the locked weapon in a locked cupboard could be pretty difficult. Many will say it could save a life or two, but so could other means and quick, heroic thinking, like the teacher who managed to get students out a window. Yes, he lost his own life, but I'd rather die saving the lives of my students, showing them true heroism and leaving the guns to the authorities than risking the problems weapons have. By the way, Erin, at my school, students aren't allowed to chew gum in class, so neither are the teachers! So I'm pretty sure guns won't be in our rooms for a long, long time.
Mom
Erin,
While I appreciate your opinion on this subject, I believe that you may see the issue based on feelings and not so much logic. Please jump over to my blog and check out a different perspective.
http://hisstoryun.blogspot.com/
D o D
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