North Carolina Wants Armed Guards in Schools

North Carolina has earned the distinction of being ALEC’s playground so it is not surprising to learn that the General Assembly has voted to put armed guards in the schools, with the right to arrest students. .

Jacob Langberg asks these questions:

“Would you want armed former cops and soldiers patrolling your office? Your supermarket? Your place of worship? I wouldn’t. So why are policymakers putting them in schools? Can’t we all agree that schools should be supportive, loving, peaceful environments, and not violent, hostile, and intimidating places? Apparently not.”

Other districts worried about protecting students from outside intruders after the tragic shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. North Carolina decided the students were threatening.

Langberg writes:

“This is not an abstract fringe issue. It’s about how we want our public schools to look and feel – child-friendly and caring or hostile and punitive. It’s about refusing to sort youth into potential perpetrators and potential victims. It’s about terrorism against young people. Sadly, school resource officers, who hardly existed two decades ago, already seem normal to most young people. We must refuse to start down a path that will soon make armed militias in schools feel like commonplace.”