On Feb. 14, 2018, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was home to the third deadliest school shooting in the United States. After this tragedy, the topic of gun control and new gun safety laws became a popular conversation among politicians. Some of these politicians wanted to find a way to make sure no student has to die or get injured from another school shooting again. Instead of having stricter gun control, these politicians had the idea to bring more guns into the classroom by arming teachers. This is possibly the worst and most dangerous law that has ever been taken into consideration and could cause even more school shootings. Our teachers and educators do not have the training or even the strength to use a weapon that is used for killing. Arming teachers should not be ever considered in order for the students and staff of every school to feel safe.
A teacher armed with a weapon is dangerous, especially if they do not have the mental capacity to use it responsibly. On Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Dalton High School in Georgia, just two weeks after the shooting in Parkland, an armed teacher from the high school barricaded himself in his classroom and started shooting at the window as soon as the principal tried unlocking the classroom. Another teacher at Seaside High School in Seaside, CA also accidentally shot his gun towards the ceiling which caused debris to fall, injuring several students. These events demonstrate that any teacher can have a mental breakdown or make costly mistakes anytime during school hours and the possibility of them carrying a gun could be deadly. Thus, irresponsible armed teachers could mean deadly accidents and the potential to accidentally shoot a student. An armed teacher could also be in an unstable state of mind and might shoot themselves or just a random student when self-control is lost. This highly dangerous idea would not make students feel safer at all.
If there were a another school shooting, and this time within a school which houses armed teachers, the shooting would be even more fatal. An armed teacher could try to shoot a spree killer and mistakenly shoot a student. The teacher also may be reckless and try to aim at whoever they think is the spree killer by aiming everywhere which can kill many students. The teacher can also be scared and overwhelmed, which again can end in accidentally killing an innocent student. According to the Shooting Journal, it takes a person approximately a year of training and practicing to handle a gun with the correct aim. Also, students can possibly try to access the teachers’ gun to use it to make threats against others. Those students can also not be in the right state of mind and go on a killing spree, trying to kill everyone around them. Having guns in classrooms would just make any situation worse and more dangerous than it is.
Lastly, teachers do not choose their job to be carrying around a dangerous weapon in their classroom. They did not go through four plus years of college to get their teaching degree to hold the responsibilities of a soldier. Many teachers may not feel safe or confident enough with the idea of them having a gun in their classrooms. Many of the students at CHS are not comfortable with the idea either, and even laugh at the idea of having their teachers arming guns. Since this idea of having armed teachers came out, many teachers on Twitter created the hashtag #ArmMeWith, which gives backlash to the lawmakers who want armed teachers. Teachers across the U.S. are using the hashtag to propose other resources they would rather be armed with, such as more funding, additional school counselors, and smaller class sizes, definitely not the ability to carry guns in school. It seems like all of a sudden there is money in the government budget to buy expensive guns for teachers, but not fund the supplies they need. Additionally, according to the New York Times, insurance companies are threatening to raise their prices or revoke ties with schools who plan on incorporating armed teachers. If insurance companies and teachers themselves are showing negative feedback, it is evident that guns must be kept out of schools.
Arming teachers is an overall bad idea and it should not have been proposed in the first place. Having a gun or any sort of weapon in the classroom would make the school setting more dangerous and make students feel very unsafe and anxious. Letting teachers have guns during a school shooting is like fighting fire with fire. Everyone could just end up shooting everything, turning into a giant shootout. This idea does not sound safe and the consequences will be fatal. Armed teachers or any weapon that could kill someone must not be introduced into the classroom.