Stop The Insanity!

The insanity continues. School shootings continue to threaten our students, and we know ways to reduce the danger. Arming teachers must not be one of them.

According to an Education Week analysis, there have been 14 school shootings this year that resulted in injuries or deaths, with 196 such shootings since 2018. There were 38 school shootings with injuries or deaths in 2023, 51 in 2022, 35 in 2021, 10 in 2020, and 24 each in 2019 and 2018. (edweek.org) Firearms are now the number one cause of death for children in the United States. (forbes.com) “The child firearm mortality rate has doubled in the U.S. from a recent low of 1.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2013 to 3.7 in 2021.” (kff.org) No other similarly large and wealthy nation has firearm mortality in its top four causes. [Ibid.] Guns surpassed car accidents as the leading cause four years ago. (cnn.com)

Everytown Research & Policy proposes a two-part plan that they say will foster safe and nurturing schools, address violence at its earliest stages, and block easy access to firearms by those who would do harm. First, they want to prevent shooters from getting access to guns by enacting sensible laws, including secure firearm storage laws and practices; enacting “Extreme Risk laws, so that law enforcement and family members can act on warning signs of violence and temporarily prevent access to firearms; raising the age to purchase semi-automatic firearms to 21; and requiring background checks on all gun sales so that minors and people with dangerous histories can’t evade gun laws.” They also propose solutions that “empower educators and law enforcement to intervene to address warning signs of violence, to provide the support that students in crisis need, and to keep shooters out of schools.” They propose “fostering safe and trusting school environments that can prevent violent incidents, creating evidence-based crisis intervention programs in schools to identify and support students who may be in crisis, implementing evidence-based security upgrades to prevent shooters’ access to schools and classrooms, and initiating trauma-informed emergency planning protocols so that staff can secure schools and law enforcement can respond quickly.”  (everytownresearch.org) Theoretically, we have the capacity to do all that. Do we have the spine?

Apparently not. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee just signed into law legislation that allows public school faculty or staff to be armed. This bill does have constraints built in, but it looks to faculty and staff to solve a problem it has failed to address. Tennessee Lookout, a non-profit news organization known for its commentary, writes, “The Tennessee ‘arm the teachers’ legislation superficially allowing public school faculty and staff to carry guns has the potential for tragic disasters and is awash with so many hurdles, caveats, and restrictions that few if any Tennessee school districts are likely to use it. When distilled to its essence, this newborn law is a legislative con job by those who want to appear to have done something to prevent school firearm violence while at the same time doing nothing. Back in Roman times, at least Nero fiddled.” (tennesseelookout.com)

Although the legislation offers guardrails and requirements, only those who approve participants will know who’s armed. Parents won’t know if their school has opted into the program or if their child’s teacher is armed. (washpost.com)

I am vehemently opposed to arming teachers. Armed and trained personnel like the police in Uvalde failed to save lives, and they have far more training in firearms than teachers ever will. Is it realistic to expect a teacher, even one trained in firearms use, to be able to get to a properly locked-up gun and use it to save lives? Might that teacher be seen as the shooter by first responders? What will stop disgruntled students from overpowering teachers and taking the guns? What is the impact on the classroom environment and student/teacher relationships? Couldn’t the resources devoted to implementing these laws be better spent on mental health responses?

There’s a reason that major stakeholder groups object to these laws. The American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, The National Association of School Resource Officers, the President and Executive Director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, which represents 75 police forces from large cities in the USA and Canada, all oppose arming teachers. (everytownresearch.org 2)

Even before the pandemic, schools and their staff were asked to take on far more than traditional education, and the demands of student mental health issues have escalated. Placing the responsibility on teachers to solve school shootings is not only unethical; it’s also ineffective and dangerous.

We need legislators to overcome their debts to the gun lobby and do the right thing. Let’s use laws to protect our students in ways that matter. Let’s work on real gun control and keeping guns out of the classroom. Let’s have the courage to enact laws that will make everyone safer. Let’s let teachers teach.