Stacey Beu

ENG 1101, Mrs. Warner

MWA 4
Word Count: 996
12/4/2015

The Big Bang Theory: Should Americas Educators Be Armed?

America is a country founded on strong principles. When an event or incident occurs, her citizens
immediately choose sides regarding whatever issue is occurring. In recent times, a very prominent issue has been
gun control. School shootings have been a primary instigator behind gun control being such a point of contention in
todays society. Generally the debate is split between two sides: those who are for more rigorous gun control laws,
and those who believe teachers ought to be able to carry firearms on school grounds for safety. After considering
both sides very carefully, Ive come to the conclusion that teachers should not be armed in schools. Not only do I
believe that teachers shouldnt be armed, but I also believe the focus should be pointed at other options such as
school resource officers and safety plans that are specifically tailored to individual schools.

The topic of gun control is one that is brought up a lot in this country. It seems that as soon as a school
shooting occurs, politicians jump on the opportunity to attempt to pass legislation that is based on emotion, rather
than thinking of what may be the most effective. The media will replay footage from the scene of the schools over
and over again, barraging us with imagery and making us feel like shootings like these happen all the time. Despite
what the media would have us believe, in reality, homicides and violent deaths in schools make up less than 1% of
deaths among kids between the ages of 5 and 18 in the United States (Duplechain & Morris 145). News outlets
attempt to use these events to make us believe that child deaths in school shootings are occurring constantly, when in
actuality theyre very rare.

Politicians and activist groups would have us believe that there are only two options: stricter gun control or
armed educators. Those who are for giving teachers the right to carry firearms cite that the best way for a school to
defend itself from shootings is to arm its personnel, since its unconstitutional to disarm all of Americas citizens
(Arnold 482-483). Arnold goes on to claim that every school that has been the scene of a shooting over the last 25
years has been classified as a gun-free zone (498-502). Those who are against arming educators say that school
safety is about more than preventing school shootings; its about providing a safe environment for every student in

Stacey Beu

that school. In her article The Real School Safety Debate: Why Legislative Responses Should Focus on Schools
and Not on Guns, Rebekah Elliott claims that accordingly, legislation advanced by state policy makers must
consist of more than gun regulation (532).

Rather than focusing solely on one of two options, its necessary for people to look to other options.
Teachers should not be armed; their time and effort should be spent teaching, not constantly worrying about a
potential threat. In order to make students and teachers alike feel at ease, schools ought to be allocated the funds for
other safety alternatives. School resource officers are personnel who have undergone hundreds of hours of training
related to proper response techniques for situations with a school shooter. These are people whose sole focus while
at the school is keeping the building and its occupants safe. They dont have to worry about distractions like lesson
plans, only monitoring the school for any red flags.

Along with resource officers, schools should have funds to use for tailored safety plans. No two schools are
exactly the same, thus the idea that one plan would fit the needs of every facility is naive. There are certain steps that
every school can take, though. These include limiting points of entry into schools and school grounds, installing
wireless panic alarms throughout the property that would alert both the local authorities and the rest of the school,
and
response protocols that are understood mutually by school personnel and law enforcement and first responders
(Duplechain & Morris 148). Those opposed to school resource officers cite the cost of such personnel as being too
high. According to the National Association of School Resource Officers, the estimated cost of hiring an officer is
between $50,000 and $80,000 a year depending on the location (Elliott 533-534). These people believe that allowing
teachers and school personnel, or even volunteers, would be more cost effective since theyre already being paid by
the school district or are offering their services for free. While the cost may be less, too much dependence on
teachers can put further strain on educators who are already faced with the challenges and stress of budget cuts and
growing classrooms, posing even more of a safety risk. Federal funding should be allocated to schools in order to
allow for resource officers, individualized safety plans, or both.

There are those who would fully condone the practice of arming todays educators. Following the shooting
at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre

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stated his desire for federal legislation that would provide every school with armed police officers, suggesting
cutting federal aid packages to cover the expense (Rostron 442). With the passing of the Gun Free Zone Act in 1995,
every school in America has been classified as gun free, yet shootings continue to happen year after year. The idea
of permitting educators to carry weapons on school grounds may seem like a simple solution to such an issue. Sadly,
there is no exact scientific method to completely ceasing school shootings, but the answer definitely does not
include jumping to emotional, reactive legislation that assumes that there are only two options to stopping them and
assuming that educators have the training and rationale needed to assess and react to hostile situations. Rather,
attention and energy should be directed to more realistic security measures, like properly trained resource officers,
wireless alarms, and controlling access to schools while in session.

Stacey Beu

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Works Cited

Arnold, Grant. "Arming The Good Guys: School Zones And The Second Amendment." Brigham Young University
Education & Law Journal 2 (2015): 481-506. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

Rostron, Allen. "School Shootings And The Legislative Push To Arm Teachers." University Of Toledo Law
Review 45.3 (2014): 439-455. Legal Collection. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

DUPLECHAIN, ROSALIND, and ROBERT MORRIS. "School Violence: Reported School Shootings And Making
Schools Safer." Education 135.2 (2014): 145. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.

Elliott, Rebekah. "The Real School Safety Debate: Why Legislative Responses Should Focus On Schools And Not
On Guns."Arizona Law Review 57.2 (2015): 523-550. Legal Collection. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.