Policy proposal for arming teachers in grades K-12
By: Kathryn Willis
In light of the recent school shooting
in Florida, new policies and ideas have been presented in order to ensure the
safety of students in grades k-12. These policies propose that arming teachers
and staff could potentially decrease the number of mass shootings in America.
President Trump tweeted in favor of arming teachers as a
solution to the on-going issue. Even though Trump’s proposal hasn’t reached the
legislative level at this point, he discussed giving bonuses to teachers that do undergo gun training to ensure the safest solution.
Although opinions are divided on the issue, some are in
favor of arming teachers agreeing with President Trump’s ideas. Those in favor
feel that training and arming teachers could be a solution to decrease the
amount of school shootings.
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| Photo by: Carlos Mercado |
Mark Villanueva is a student whose mom works as a teacher at
an elementary school. He agrees that arming teachers would not only protect the
students but also protect the faculty and staff.
“My mom is a
teacher at an elementary school back home. Anything can happen at any moment,
the best thing I want is to know that she is safe and that she can protect
herself at all costs,” said Villanueva.
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| Photo by: Kathryn Willis |
Blake
Mitchell, another student at Texas State, has two siblings in grades k-12. He
believes that it is important to get the appropriate training to arm teachers in
order to end to school shootings.
“I think they
should go through regular certification to get your LTC (license to carry),
they should have to go through other classes outside of school and inside
school, similar to get your teachers cert., and get recertified annually or
biannually. Teachers need to know what they are doing and how to shoot.
Teachers also shouldn’t be forced to carry but it can be up to them,” said
Mitchell.
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| Photo by: Robert Dillon |
In contrast, some students find that arming teachers in
grades k-12 is not the correct solution to the issue. Joe Pieczynski, a
27-year-old student at Texas State, and Katrina Greggs feel that the problem
lies within young students’ accessibility to guns.
“I think that making rifles not
purchasable at 18 and raising the age to 21 like pistols would’ve kept this one
at least from being able to obtain one. So I think doing that and increasing
third party background checks in states like Texas where you can just buy and
sell between individuals without a paper trail, I think that that should be
addressed as well,” said Pieczynski.
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| Photo by: Robert Dillon |
“I do think that it’s really easy to
get guns, I don’t know the exacts but I know that you can walk into academy and
get one that day. I think there should be more of a background check I don’t
think they should take away guns, I mean my family and my boyfriend and his
family are all avid hunters and super into guns and I don’t think taking them
away is the answer but maybe having more obstacles would help,” said Greggs.
In a recent potential school shooting in Maryland, an armed security guard quickly reacted to the situation. A
17-year-old student had entered the school and shot two students but was
stopped by Gaskill before more damage could be done.
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| Photo by:Robert Dillon |
Joseph Losoya and Cody Huffman, when asked about arming
teachers, were aware of the incident in Maryland and feel that arming security
guards could be an idea that meets both opinions in the middle.
“For teachers, I think it’s a little
much for students especially at a young age like that. For security guards, I
do feel like it is necessary they are the ones that are protecting the school.
I think it’s also about enforcing better lock systems and systems of lockdown
to really advocate and protect the students and staff,” Huffman said.
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| Photo by:Robert Dillon |
“Maybe armed security. People who are
highly trained in it, but not the teachers,” said Losoya.
Arming teachers could be a solution to this ongoing problem
here in America. Policies regarding the issue have not been put into place at
this time but there are 14 states, including Arkansas and Arizona, that have
armed teachers at this time.
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