Armed Teachers in Schools

[mmckee1952]

I heard Mark Walters on the radio last month and he got me to thinking, what if we were to arm the teachers who would like to be armed to protect the children they have enroled there.
The past few years we've seen a increase in the amount of killings at schools were there is no protection at all. How meny of you take your children to school and go to there school to collect them during schools hours and there is no protection, after you sign in at the office and get your hall pass, you can rome about the school unmolested. This I feel leaves a really big area this any possibilty to do anything you want. The metal dectors can be bypassed, a back door can be opened to allow someone with in without anyone knowing about it.
I know a lot of you think "this wouldn't happen at my childs school" but I bet a lot of the parents of the schools of the past few months would have said the very same thing.
Train the teachers and admistrative staff who want to protect there students just like a policeman is trained, you eather take the course and pass or you don't pass the course and don't carry a gun.
Do you fell a little bit safer when flying knowing there's an armed pilot and a US Air Marshal on the flight with you, or would you prefer to go back to Sept 11?
I had to think about this a lot before I sent this and after awhile I thought of my grandchildren and I sure wouldn't want to go to there funerals
if there was solution to the problem.
I plan to go to the next metting of the school board and submit this proposal and see how it's recieved.
Think about this idea and if there's some like thinking out there, think about going to your school board and ask them about this idea.

[Wyldekard]

I agree that teachers who want to carry firearms should be able to exercise their right to do so. I also think it should be mandatory that at least one person per X number of students (X to be determined by the number of enrolled students) be armed and trained to defend the students and staff.

[mappow]

Totally agree with arming competent staff with CCW BUT... and that's a BIG BUTT, it'll take but one innocent child shot and the whole thing would cave in. Collateral damage can not happen when it's your child. But I do agree that we need armed staffers.
Keep us informed how it goes at the Board meeting. It'll be interesting. What state are you in and how tight is the teachers union?

[localgirl]

I've always liked this idea, even though I realize it's a little out there.

When I became a teacher, it was made very clear to me that it was my responsibility not only to teach, but to protect the students. My instructor called it "in loco parentis." It means that if you're taking care of 4-year-olds, and one needs his bottom wiped, you do it. If you're taking care of 12-year-olds, and one has bruises, you find out why. And if you're teaching high school students and you know their parents are letting them drink and have unprotected sex, you or the counselor talk to them, inasmuch as you can.

Yet when it would come time to practice "lockdowns" we were told to lock the classroom doors, turn off the lights, and be quiet. First, it's not as if a gunman wouldn't know someone was in there, second, it's virtually impossible to keep 30 teenagers quiet, third, my classroom had an entire bank of windows level with the ground. You can be sure if someone was roaming the halls shooting and I thought they had a better chance, those kids would be out the window and across the parking lot (although this was strictly forbidden).

There was a single armed "resource officer" for our school. All anyone would have had to do was take him out and it would have been like shooting ducks in a pond.

I've seen what a bullet fired indoors can do. A door or a bank of lockers isn't going to do a thing to slow it down. All those movies where people hide behind car doors and barrels--not true.

The whole thing pissed me off: the obvious lack of common sense, the ineffectual response, the fact that I was put in a situation where I couldn't defend myself or my kids.

So yeah, I think if teachers are willing to take additional training, and screening shows they are capable of handling it mentally, we should be arming our teachers.

[AppliedPerspective]

I think if they have a CCW, and have taken extra training specifically designed for defending a group against a shooter, then great. Let them carry.

That said, I can think of MAYBE 1 teacher where I went to school that would possibly even be interested. I don't know about where you live, but here in liberal MN, pretty much all the teachers are left, if not extremely left of center. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the teachers themselves would oppose the choice more than most of the parents.

[mmckee1952]

Totally agree with arming competent staff with CCW BUT... and that's a BIG BUTT, it'll take but one innocent child shot and the whole thing would cave in. Collateral damage can not happen when it's your child. But I do agree that we need armed staffers.
Keep us informed how it goes at the Board meeting. It'll be interesting. What state are you in and how tight is the teachers union?

I live in Virginia in the county of Mathews, We are really out in the boom docks, I live so far out I can't get a mail box at the end of my driveway with out the other home owners on my road OK'ing to have there mail left in a mail box on the street also. I don't know how the school board will recieve this, but I think it should be brought up for there review and hopefully there might be some like minded people out there also.