LkWinnipesaukee
Member
Hey guys, I just finished up the 1st draft of a column for my school newspaper about teachers being able to CCW in class. It's only the first draft, and I havent credited quotes yet, and some of the paragraphs are out of order, but please bear with me.
Background-- My school is Algonquin Regional HS in Northboro. West Boylston is an ajacent town. All this is in Massachusetts, which you all know about. I will be interviewing teachers to get their opinions...
Tell me what you think, anything I should add, take out, change, etc. I'm only a 16 year old soph, so go easy
Thanks so much!!!
Background-- My school is Algonquin Regional HS in Northboro. West Boylston is an ajacent town. All this is in Massachusetts, which you all know about. I will be interviewing teachers to get their opinions...
Tell me what you think, anything I should add, take out, change, etc. I'm only a 16 year old soph, so go easy
Thanks so much!!!
It has become increasingly obvious that schools are being targeted for attacks around the United States. That is because the security of the public schools in this country is pitiful. Recently, there was a string of four school shootings, leaving six innocent victims dead. In all cases, the suspects simply walked into the school and started shooting. I bet those teachers wished they had a way to help the children during the shootings. This begs the question: What can be done to increase the safety of students in school?
In Israel and Thailand, most teachers are armed inside of school. In fact, since the 1980's, the Israeli government has donated firearms to schools in order to protect their students. Since then, school violence has completely ceased. It's time the United States followed suit and allowed teachers and staff, who are properly trained and licensed, to carry a concealed weapon during school. That is, staff should be able to carry weapons only if it's worth defending the lives of innocent children.
The reason criminals target schools is because they are unarmed, advertised “victimization zones”. Schools provide almost no resistance to anyone simply visiting, let alone someone who is a danger to society. Does anyone wonder why we never hear of shootings at police stations?
Some schools are taking “security measures” to help “protect” students. West Boylston schools, for example, are planning to install cameras in their buildings. What this would do to stop a school shooting, I have no idea. Even Algonquin's “lock-down” procedure is flawed. Any poor student stranded in the hallway is instructed to leave the building, because they wont be let into any classroom for fear of the unseen suspect forcing his way into the class, regardless of the gaping windows fitted into each door.
I asked some classmates about the idea of allowing teachers and staff to carry a concealed weapon (CCW), and was outright disgusted with some of the immature, distasteful responses I got.
“What if a teacher got mad and shot a kid?”
Some think that a gun can be easily snatched from a staff member. It is possible, but in order for someone to do this they would have to have knowledge of where the gun is located, the power to see through clothes, and the ability to pull a small object out of a holster from the inside of somebody else's waistband. Concealed means just that- concealed. No one would know who is carrying. And why is it that police officers carry openly and don't have a problem?
There have been cases where firearms have indeed saved lives in US schools. In 1997 for example, a Missouri student brought a rifle to school and began shooting kids. The vice principal ran to his car and brought his own handgun into the school to hold the suspect until police arrived. Although horribly illegal by modern laws, he did the right thing by saving lives that would otherwise be lost.
Of course, I'm not fooling anyone. I don't actually expect this to happen. Teachers and staff will forever be stripped of their second amendment rights from 7:20-1:45. They will never be allowed to defend themselves or their children. We will all simply continue to attend school, completely vulnerable to whoever wishes to terrorize a building full of children.