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Educators uncertain if arming teachers is a good idea

Following the school shooting in Parkland, FL Feb. 14, the gun control debate reentered the spotlight. President Trump said he wants to arm highly trained teachers to deter the next mass casualty event, and the National Rifle Association called for more armed security. The American Federation of Teachers, however, spoke out against arming teachers.

The education department at Oklahoma Christian University prepares college students for the responsibility they have to their future students. Allison Cassady, associate professor of education, said she has not yet discussed the issue of arming teachers in her classes due to the sensitivity of the topic. However, she said they have talked about the issues of violence in schools.

“Statistically speaking, there is less violence behavior in schools than there used to be, but the level of severity of the acts and notoriety of the acts are greater,” Cassady said. “We talk about how we cannot control a school at large, but we can have a very big impact on our classroom of students, and that it starts with those students walking into your classroom and knowing that they are in a safe space, that you expect and you will respect opinions and ideas.”

Cassady said she emphasizes building community in the classroom to reduce the number of people who feel they are on the fringe of society. She said she believes people need to be seen, heard and loved.

“We live in a society that is fearful of getting too emotionally intimate,” Cassady said. “But the truth is that we need to, because the more you know somebody—the more a child or student or person of any age feels part of a community—the less likely they are to lash out in this kind of way.”

“I’m not blaming the teachers or parents or anybody for what has happened. There is most definitely mental health issues there as well to be able to do something that horrible, but those people who have done these mass shootings are missing an important piece of life and being a good human. They’ve never been a part of a healthy community.”

According to Cassady, teaching comes with great responsibility because parents entrust her with students’ lives. Regarding whether the government should arm teachers, Cassady said teachers have enough to be responsible for, and it is not the most effective way to handle this problem.

“I don’t think it’s smart to have guns around children,” Cassady said. “We hear all the time of kids accidentally shooting or guns falling. If there’s an active shooter, that teacher is going to be more concerned with getting his or her students into a safe place and cannot protect students if they are going after a gunman.”

Education major Addyson Weast said one of her professors brought up arming teachers in response to the recent shootings. She said her professor remained neutral on the topic and worked to find the positive in each argument, which served as a model for how to talk about hard topics in their future classrooms.

“We left that class feeling like our opinions were valued and that we weren’t thought of as less of a person because of our opinions,” Weast said. “I feel like often teachers can take a side in an argument and make the others feel like their opinions are invalid. As teachers, we are called to respect every student’s opinion even if we feel like it is wrong, which is really difficult to do, but my professor modeled that beautifully throughout our discussion.”

Although the class discussion did not end in a clear conclusion on the topic, Weast said the majority of the class leaned toward teachers not being allowed to have guns in the classroom.

“Those of us with that opinion stated that more defensive measures should be taken before offensive measures are introduced into a room full of children,” Weast said. “There are unbreakable door locks that can be implemented, bullet proof glass can be inserted, etc., before teachers resort to keeping a weapon in the classroom.”

Weast said she has struggled with this topic for a long time. She said her family owns multiple guns and shoot them on their land. In addition, she said three of her siblings are involved in competitive shooting.

“Anyone who looked at my family and my life would assume that I am pro guns in the classroom,” Weast said. “However, I strongly believe that this is not the next step that should be taken to protect students. The thought of carrying a weapon on my person while working around and with such young, precious lives terrifies me. You never know what student may snap and create a danger in the classroom, and having a gun present would only add to the tension and possibility for danger.”

Cassady and Weast said a solution is not easy to find, but schools can take preventative measures.

“I’m not sure how to fix it, other than we start at the source, and start with quitting worrying about test scores and grades and start worrying about people, and the heart, the health and the community,” Cassady said. “If we put our focus where it needs to be, this will naturally kind of go away—at least I hope. We just all need to start loving each other and respecting each other and paying attention.”

According to Weast, although the possibility of violence in schools is intimidating, she believes she could act quickly and efficiently to keep her students as safe as possible in all situations.

“It’s scary to think that I could be one of the teachers that has to watch such a terrifying thing happen,” Weast said. “Although it’s scary, it does not at all deter me from the profession of teaching. If anything, it makes me want to be in the schools more. Overall, all I can do is pray that nothing like that ever happens to my students or any others ever again.”

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