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this is about armed teachers

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The recent mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has reignited a national conversation about arming teachers. Although gun violence prevention research has been historically underfunded, 1 there has been strong support for studying the prevalence of violent behaviors more broadly in schools and the role of preventive efforts (via curricula, increased social support services, and parent engagement) in reducing these behaviors. However, we know little, if anything, about the effectiveness of arming teachers in deterring gun violence in schools. Furthermore, uncertainty about how schools should operationalize this kind of proposal perpetuates concerns.

As teachers, school administrators, parents, and policymakers seek to build safer school communities, we need a far better understanding of the implications of arming teachers on the school environment, on a child's development, on student learning outcomes, on existing school safety policies, and on the full costs of such interventions, including the added responsibilities that it would impose on teachers and school administrators. We arm uniformed police officers with the expectation that they have been appropriately trained to protect us with their firearms in times of crisis. Although teachers are conceivably capable of appropriately using firearms, no evidence-based guidelines are available to help us develop the necessary training for teachers and continued instruction needed to maintain their preparedness so that they would be ready when crisis strikes. We also have no means for identifying teachers who would be willing to take on this significant responsibility. Nor do we have enough information on whether nonuniformed, armed civilian teachers would reduce or increase risks for themselves and their students when uniformed law enforcement arrives during a crisis. In other words, we are debating whether a new profession that combines the responsibilities of a law enforcement officer and a teacher is even feasible, given all these caveats.

EXISTING RESEARCH

The question about whether to arm teachers has seen very limited scholarly discussion and scientific inquiry. In a 2011 article, researchers explored the relation between school characteristics and school violent crime. 2 The findings suggested that school resource officers with nonlethal force capabilities might be helpful in deterring violent crime rates in schools. However, that same positive relationship was not found with school resource officers armed with a firearm. 2 In a 2002 article, Beger 3 argued that heightened policing and intrusive security efforts within public school spaces decrease a student's sense of safety; this finding has been reinforced by recent work. Indeed, research has since confirmed that punitive efforts in schools (such as zero tolerance policies intended to reduce illicit drug use and weapon possession among students) do not effectively deter crime and cause more harm than good to students and schools. 4

From a financial perspective, a 2013 report assessed the cost of placing an armed school resource officer in every elementary and secondary school across the United States (n = 132 183). 5 The report accounted for estimated variations in salary, student population size, and number of hours worked per academic year. Drawing on these estimates, the cost would range from $19.1 to $22.6 billion annually, 5 which accounts for nearly 30% of the current federal education budget (reported by the National Center for Education Statistics to be $78.9 billion). The United States currently has an estimated 3.1 million full-time teachers. Arming even 20% of them, as recently suggested by the White House, would result in similarly significant increases in the federal budget.

OPERATIONALIZING SCHOOL SECURITY

Note that school security encompasses a broad spectrum of behaviors and situations, including planning for the possibility of natural disasters, implementing antibullying interventions, recognizing and responding to students with suicidal behaviors, implementing protocols for working with police and local law enforcement, and overseeing medical emergency response protocols for a broad range of possible health situations. Also, let us not forget the many additional services that schools-and teachers in particular-provide while they attend to the education, development, and well-being of our children. The extraordinary number of responsibilities that teachers and schools bear has been pointed out frequently in research related to teacher stress and burnout. Therefore, we need to be mindful of the additional burden that such an intervention could have on schools and their staff.

The existing research base also highlights that school security is an important component of a school's climate, which has more broadly been shown to inform youth engagement in violent behaviors. Specifically, school climate includes a range of characteristics that help define the quality of a child's learning environment, including disciplinary practices, social-emotional security, respect and acceptance of diversity within the school community, efforts that nurture positive peer relationships and social support for all students, and teaching practices that provide opportunity for thoughtful discourse and constructive conflict resolution. Therefore, the nature of school security measures and their ramifications for school climate quality must be accounted for when developing strategies for reducing gun violence in schools.

COULD ARMING TEACHERS WORK?

Although no empirical evidence is currently available regarding whether arming teachers would deter gun violence in elementary and secondary school settings, we can extrapolate from existing research on the possible outcomes of such efforts. Research has shown that increased gun access and gun possession are not associated with protection from violence, 6 which suggests that increasing the presence of guns in the hands of civilians in schools, no matter how well intentioned, may backfire. Furthermore, exposure to gun violence across a broader spectrum-hearing gunshots, witnessing gunfire, and knowing someone who has been injured with a firearm-can adversely affect a child's health and development. Whether arming teachers would decrease these types of negative exposures is unclear.

We also know that the anticipation of violence can lead to increased anxiety, fear, and depression. Given the sensationalized and speculative nature of many mass school shootings that has reinforced the misperception that schools in general are unsafe, 4 arming teachers, in all likelihood, would heighten levels of anxiety and negatively affect a school's climate. These concerns are echoed by families as well; a recent study that used a national sample found that more than half of the parents of school-aged children oppose school personnel carrying firearms. 7

CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS

The existing literature indicates a lack of clarity on the efficacy of the different proposals that have been put forth by various politicians and lobbying groups with regard to firearms in schools. A multitude of questions remain regarding the nuances and logistics of arming teachers. In addition, the efficiency and return-on-investment for this kind of costly effort, with little if any existing evidence, are unclear.

The existing research base does, however, suggest that multifaceted, preventive methods are effective in preventing and mitigating incidents of violence. Examples of such approaches include legislation and public education efforts that help reduce youth access to guns; increased support services within schools and community settings so that the early antecedents of violent behavior can be quickly detected and immediately addressed; and efforts that promote a positive and nurturing school climate that attends to every child's well-being.

Coordinated research and practice efforts that effectively address and prevent violence among youths and in school spaces are urgently needed. Keeping schools safe must be a national educational and public health priority.

Footnotes

See also Galea and Vaughan, p. 856; and the Gun Violence Prevention Section, pp. 858- 888.

REFERENCES

1. Branas CC, Wiebe DJ, Schwab CW, Richmond TS. Getting past the "f" word in federally funded public health research. Inj Prev. 2005;11(3):191-192. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed]

2. Maskaly J, Donner CM, Lanterman J, Jennings WG. On the association between SROs, private security guards, use-of-force capabilities, and violent crime in schools. J Police Crisis Negot. 2011;11(2):159-176.

3. Beger RR. Expansion of police power in public schools and the vanishing rights of students. Soc Justice. 2002;29(1/2):119-130.

4. Borum R, Cornell DG, Modzeleski W, Jimerson SR. What can be done about school shootings? A review of the evidence.

6. Branas CC, Richmond TS, Culhane DP, Ten Have TR, Wiebe DJ. Investigating the link between gun possession and gun assault. Am J Public Health. 2009;99(11):2034-2040. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed]

7. Payton E, Khubchandani J, Thompson A, Price JH. Parents' expectations of high schools in firearm violence prevention. J Community Health. 2017;42(6):1118-1126. [ PubMed]

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Arming Schoolteachers: What Do We Know? Where Do We Go From Here?

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The recent mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has reignited a national conversation about arming teachers. Although gun violence prevention research has been historically underfunded, 1 there has been strong support for studying the prevalence of violent behaviors more broadly in schools and the role of preventive efforts (via curricula, increased social support services, and parent engagement) in reducing these behaviors.

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article about arming teachers

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In 14 US states, there are already schools in which some teachers carry guns. Before they can be armed in the classroom, teachers in one of those states, Ohio, go through a three-day training course.

An estimated 400 more teachers have gone through that training there this year. I joined the latest group of Ohio teachers trying to qualify to carry a gun in the classroom.

There were simulated scenarios the teachers were put through in which they would be expected to use their weapon.

This is how these scenarios unfolded.

Scenario 1: The active shooter

On a cold day deep in the southern Ohio countryside, I stood waiting outside a fake school building next to a teacher with a replica gun. He was nervous, waiting for the scenario to start, wondering what kind of situation he would have to deal with.

For security reasons, we are not allowed to name the teachers who might go back to their classrooms armed but this teacher was a softly-spoken school principal who felt he could not ask members of his staff to carry guns if he did not carry a weapon himself.

"Our school is in a rural area, police officers could take anywhere from 15-20 minutes to get to us and in a school shooting it's over and done with by then," the head teacher said, explaining why he felt compelled to apply to carry a gun.

"Scenario start!" shouted one of the trainers and we ran into the "school" together.

A woman ran past us screaming that something terrible was happening down the corridor where we could hear shouting. Further on, the teacher I'd spoken to outside had his gun raised out in front of him.

Suddenly, two "children" ran out of a classroom shouting.

"Click, click"

In the stress of this fake situation, the teacher had accidentally shot both of the innocent "students".

He then went on and entered the classroom, identified the attacker and within a matter of seconds "killed" him too.

After the exercise, I put it to Joe Eaton who ran the course that this could happen for real and innocent students could be killed.

"There is nothing that is 100%," said Mr Eaton.

"One thing we know for certain is that killing will continue until [the teacher] stops it. We have people say before 'I don't want my kids in the middle of a gun fight' but until you have somebody there to respond, they are not in a gun fight - they are in a firing squad."

Qualification of the course is based solely on target practice - 26 hits out of 28 shots at a human-shaped target, and the teacher passes.

A few hours after the scenario I had witnessed, the head teacher who "killed" two students involved passed the course.

Is it time for US teachers to carry guns?

Scenario 2: The school fight

In the second scenario, two "school students" were having a fight in a classroom, surrounded by other children who were spurring them on.

"Scenario start!"

We went in - this time with a different armed teacher from the first scenario. He approached the fight. Very suddenly one of the students pulls out a knife and stabs the other.

"Click, click, click"

Within moments, the student who pulled out the knife is shot dead by her teacher.

"Clean shots, clean hits, nicely done" says Forrest Sonewald, the lead trainer, ending the exercise.

But after the scenario, the teacher who pulled the trigger voices his unease.

"Just because I see a knife is that a reason to pull the trigger?" he asked. "She wasn't coming at me, so I did hesitate just a little bit."

Another trainer interjects. "That's why you're learning, to know not to [hesitate]" he said, before elaborating.

"How much can the average person cover in two seconds with that bladed implement in their hand - especially high school age kids?" he asks.

"Easily 20 feet plus, so that is a lethal force implement," he continues, reinforcing his justification that shooting dead the student with the knife is the right thing to do.

Mr Sonewald tells of how teachers from a previous group said it was their school's policy for teachers to only use a gun when a firearm was involved in an attack, something he derided.

"Good luck if you're going to be bludgeoned by a brick!"

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Lingering anxieties

At the end of the course, another middle-school principal asked something that had been troubling him.

"What if you are in the cafeteria and a student would raise a gun, and he points it at people, and you take him down and it ends up being a toy gun?"

Mr Sonewald answered.

"No, no, you are defending everybody else and in that case you have identified what would appear to be a clear threat. There is already case law established like that for police officers," he said.

There were other moments during the course when the teachers were encouraged to shoot rather than do nothing, and talk of the protection offered by US law.

Speaking to the head teacher later, it was clear he was still troubled.

"If we are going to pull the trigger we want to make sure it is worth everything. It is tough to think about that it might be a kid that you know [that is the attacker]. A kid that you see every day," he told me.

This particular teacher had never owned a gun before now and had had very little experience with firearms. He also passed the course and, once his school approves it, can carry a gun in his classroom.

Finally, I spoke to an IT teacher, moments after he had hit the required number of shots at the target and had qualified as well.

He appeared more pensive than pleased and I asked him why.

"Well it's an enormous amount of responsibility," he told me, reflecting on the fact that he would be the first teacher to be armed at his school.

He had volunteered because, he said, the school had wanted to do something to prepare for the possibility of an attack and wanted volunteers and no one else had raised their hand.

"I know that if you are that person, you have a high probability you are going to get shot if an attack happens. It's not a great thought, it messes with you."

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Inside a US training course to arm teachers

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In 14 US states, there are already schools in which some teachers carry guns. Before they can be armed in the classroom, teachers in one of those states, Ohio, go through a three-day training course. An estimated 400 more teachers have gone through that training there this year.

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Trump says arming teachers with concealed weapons could prevent school massacres

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this is a site is about should we arm teachers

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Mr. Trump later clarified his stance on how to best protect schools against shooting massacres:

"I want certain highly adept people, people who understand weaponry, guns" to have a permit to carry concealed firearms in schools, Mr. Trump said during his second White House meeting in two days to discuss how to respond to the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Teachers who were qualified to handle a weapon - Mr. Trump estimated between 10 percent and 40 percent - would receive "a little bit of a bonus," he said, adding that he would devote federal money to training them.

"I want my schools protected just like I want my banks protected," the president said. ...

Mr. Trump said he was not in favor of one measure that schools around the nation have increasingly taken to defend themselves and their students against school shooters: holding drills to practice what to do.

"Active shooter drills is a very negative thing," Mr. Trump said after Pam Stewart, the Florida Department of Education commissioner, mentioned such preparations. "I don't like it. I'd much rather have a hardened school."

Mr. Trump added that active shooter drills were "crazy," and "very hard on children."

In " An Armed Principal Detained a Campus Gunman. But He's Against Arming School Staff," reporter Stephanie Saul writes:

Even before a gunman opened fire at a Florida school last week, killing 17 people, a national effort had been underway to arm and train teachers and administrators to defend against mass shootings.

That effort has gained momentum in recent days. Legislators have moved to permit concealed weapons in schools. Sheriffs' offices have offered to train school staff members in armed response.

But one assistant high school principal who survived a school shooting - after loading his Colt .45 pistol, then chasing and detaining the suspect at gunpoint - says the idea is misguided.

"Teachers have to teach, and that's what they should be doing," said Joel Myrick, the former assistant principal at a high school in Mississippi. "It doesn't matter what a pistolero you are, or think you are. You don't need to be in school in charge of protecting children."

Before Columbine, Sandy Hook or Stoneman Douglas - indeed, before school shootings became devastatingly routine - there was Pearl High School, near Jackson, Miss.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- Do you think teachers and other school staff should be armed with guns? After considering the different viewpoints from the articles and video, has your initial reaction changed or been reinforced in any way? If so, how? If not, why not?

- Think about your own school for a moment. How would you feel if you knew some adults were carrying concealed weapons?

- Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers and a former teacher, says gun training "places an unfair burden on teachers." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? What do you think a teacher's roles and responsibilities should include?

- In addition to arming teachers, some experts have recommended increasing police presence, hiring more security guards, and installing metal detectors, door buzzers, security cameras and barricades in schools. Others have suggested more proactive efforts, like investing in mental health counseling and peer mediation, practicing active shooter drills, and manning doors and hallways with teachers - not security guards - whom students know and trust. Which of these safety measures do you think your school should implement? Which ones would you not want to see at your school? Why?

- What other solutions would you propose to make schools safer?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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Should Teachers Be Armed With Guns? (Published 2018)

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Mr. Trump later clarified his stance on how to best protect schools against shooting massacres: "I want certain highly adept people, people who understand weaponry, guns" to have a permit to carry concealed firearms in schools, Mr. Trump said during his second White House meeting in two days to discuss how to respond to the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

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this is a site about the good thing and the bad things about armed teachers

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Pro by Shelby Hayes:

I n the past, students only concern was to save their grade, now they have to worry about saving their lives. A school is a place where students not only grow mentally and socially, but also learn about the world around them. The people who work everyday to help students are none other than the teachers.

In the recent events of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, every school in the United States has been on its toes with worry and nervousness. Teachers have the responsibility of teaching their students and protecting them during school hours.

An issue in the media is whether or not teachers should carry guns in schools. Teachers should be able to carry a gun in school in order to help protect their students against an armed intruder.

In the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, a football coach by the name of Aaron Feis threw himself in the way of flying bullets to save his students. The beloved coach was rushed to the hospital and later died from his wounds.

This teacher did not have to lose his life to save his students but he did. It is safe to say that this teacher could have lived if he was armed with a handgun.

Teachers should be able to protect the students and themselves in an intruder alert situation. They should not have to be human sacrifices when students will still get hurt after their help. Teachers should not be defenseless in a situation such as this.

Some people may argue that the job of the teacher is not to defend the students, but to share their knowledge in the classroom. Many teachers feel it is their obligation to help the students that they have grown closer to over the school year.

Many people will argue that teachers carrying guns is just as unsafe. It would not be unsafe if the teachers carrying the guns were responsible and well-respected teachers who know how to operate a gun.

Teachers should be able to protect themselves and others; therefore, they should be allowed to carry guns.

T he idea of walking into a school where teachers can carry guns is alarming. The fact it is actually being considered is even more shocking.

After the shooting in Florida, President Donald Trump suggested that teachers should carry guns in schools. The controversy is, would this really solve the problem?

Con by Maddison Shawkey

The answer is no. A gun problem cannot be solved with more guns.

While it is a concern to keep the students safe, it is not the teacher's primary job. The teachers are there to educate. They are not there to act as police officers in the incident of a shooting. Putting guns in their hands could possibly lead to disastrous events if they are not careful.

One issue with teachers carrying is that it makes them primary targets. If the shooter sees the teacher with a gun, they may shoot the teacher first, leaving the students on their own, fighting for their lives.

Another problematic situation could be that a student gets angry and knows that their teacher has a gun. If they get to a certain point they may decide to take the teacher's gun and shoot whoever or whatever is angering them.

A frightening issue is the teacher's reaction in a crisis. Even if the teacher has been trained for an instance of a school shooter situation, they are still liable to panic and just shoot. This could result in harming an innocent student.

President Trump has also proposed giving bonuses to the teachers who agree to carry. The problem is that some teachers can perform efficiently and others cannot. Some teachers could to be very helpful for students but aren't able to receive a pay bonus just because of their beliefs on guns.

Trump's idea for allowing teachers to carrying guns in schools is a step in the wrong direction. Schools need more protection from guns and more trained officers who know how to handle a school shooter emergency. They do not need unsure teachers who just want a bonus check for carrying guns in the learning environment.

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Pro/Con: Should Teachers Carry Guns In School?

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Pro by Shelby Hayes: I n the past, students only concern was to save their grade, now they have to worry about saving their lives. A school is a place where students not only grow mentally and socially, but also learn about the world around them.

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this is a site about armed teachers

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The idea of arming teachers-or loosening state restrictions to allow concealed-carry permit holders to bring guns into schools-is often circulated after school attacks. It gained attention after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012 and was revived in the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

But putting guns in the hands of school staff is often met with resistance from educators, who say they don't want the responsibility of carrying and securing a firearm on top of their already demanding jobs. Many teachers believe that arming themselves-and their peers-would make schools less safe.

Here's what you need to know about the divisive issue:

Who Supports the Idea?

President Trump, for one. At a speech just after the Parkland shooting, he argued that armed teachers with training and experience who "love their students" might be better able to protect them in an active shooting scenario than an armed police officer.

"A teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened," Trump said, referring to the former student who is accused of the slayings.

Not surprisingly, gun-rights advocates have long pushed for laws that allow educators to carry weapons.

There Are Already Teachers Carrying Guns at School

Many schools are "gun-free zones," but the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act allows states to authorize certain individuals to carry firearms on school grounds.

In addition to Texas, the states of Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota allow staff members-with certain caveats-to carry guns on school grounds.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety-a gun-control advocacy group-15 states allow concealed carry of some sort in schools, and this year two dozen states considered similar policies:

Adopting a Policy for Arming Teachers Could Be a Minefield

Among the questions schools who want to arm staff members have to answer:

who-exactly-is authorized to carry a firearm,

where should guns be stored, and

should armed employees get some sort of bonus.

There's also the thorny question of liability: Who would be responsible if something went wrong? Many things could go wrong, experts say-a student could find or steal a teacher's firearm, the weapon could accidentally discharge, or a teacher could shoot an innocent bystander during an active-shooter situation.

Arming staff could get expensive. A high-quality, name-brand, semi-automatic pistol or other type of handgun could run anywhere from $500 to $1,200. And the idea of diverting already stretched resources to these and other costs such as firearms training could be a very tough sell. (Perhaps that's why Texas is asking if its districts can tap into those federal dollars.)

Who Opposes the Idea?

All the major teacher, principal, school employee, and school security organizations oppose guns in schools, except when carried by a police or security officer.

And so do most teachers and Americans.

Teach Plus, a national advocacy group for teacher leadership, polled 1,233 teachers and found nearly 80 percent said they strongly oppose arming teachers in school.

The National Education Association surveyed 1,000 of its members and 82 percent of respondents said they would not carry a gun to school even if they had firearms training and were allowed to do so.

And a Gallup poll found less than 30 percent of teachers think that arming teachers would be very or somewhat effective in limiting the number of victims in a school shooting.

Education Week has spoken to many educators who think carrying a concealed weapon is , including school shooting survivors themselves.

Jim Moffatt, a retired principal who was shot by a student at Fergus High School in Lewistown, Mont., in 1986, actively campaigns against legislative efforts to arm teachers:

While their numbers may be smaller than those who oppose carrying guns, there are teachers, principals, and superintendents who favor it.

"I do think it's reasonable for someone like me, but if you look at the landscape of American educators at large, I don't think it's realistic," he said. "I don't represent the majority of teachers."

Jeffrey Woofter, a former sheriff and the superintendent of West Virginia's Barbour County school district, does not think that all school personnel should be armed either. But he believes that trained staff should be allowed to carry concealed weapons or have access to concealed weapons on campus.

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Should Teachers Carry Guns? The Debate, Explained

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The idea of arming teachers-or loosening state restrictions to allow concealed-carry permit holders to bring guns into schools-is often circulated after school attacks. It gained attention after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012 and was revived in the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.