3 Reasons To NOT arm schools
Like all of you, I was horrified by the shooting last month in Newtown, CN.
My four year old son does his pre-school at a local elementary school, and I’m asking the same question that all parents are asking: How do we keep our children safe?
Today, in my local paper, I read that some parents are asking the district to provide security guards in all schools. Across our country, many voices are calling for principals and teachers to be armed.
Here are three reasons that armed security may not be the best thing for our students:
1) We have no proof that more security works. For example, there was a security guard at Columbine. And Newtown had actually invested heavily in security training and protocols - Newtown was probably in the top 10% of elementary schools when it comes to safety readiness. Maybe instead of investing scare resources in security, we would save more kids by focusing on something less sensational, such as better protection for kids with allergies.
2) It’s almost impossible to stop someone who is willing to sacrifice their own life. Even our fully-trained soldiers fighting abroad, with all sorts of incredible equipment, find it hard to stop a “suicide bomber” who is willing to sacrifice their life. The reality is that if someone does not care, and just wants to hurt people, there are severe limitations to how we can stop them. For example, my elementary school had recess on both sides of the building. Would we need to have armed guards watching kids on both sides of the building during recess? Many of the high schools I visit have hundreds, sometimes thousands of students streaming in at the beginning of school. There is no way I can think of of keeping all the studnents safe at that vulnerable time if someone is willing to take their own life.
3) What if the armed guards or teachers hurt someone? I’ve met many wonderful educators in my travels but I’ve also met a few who have terrified me. Do we really want millions of staff members at schools around the country with easy access to weapons. Teachers work in high pressure, often emotionally-charged environments – even well-trained police officers routinely mistake flashlights and other small objects for guns.
What do you think?
