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I'm an elementary school teacher and I will never teach in a school where anyone is armed. Never.
To say that elementary schools should have armed guards to prevent another Sandy Hook is to say that armed guards should patrol every place in the entire country.
We are all much more likely to be killed in the car on the way to school.
If a school is that dangerous, do something about preventing dangerous people from entering the building. It's ridiculous to say we need armed guards as a knee jerk reaction to violence without considering the cost. I think it's safe to assume that in general people who think we need armed guards are conservatives who don't want their taxes raised. I'd like to know how they intend to work around that!
If it comes down to paying an armed guard or a counselor/social worker, I'll take the counselor every time. And I'm willing to pay more taxes for that!
I'm an elementary school teacher and I will never teach in a school where anyone is armed. Never.
To say that elementary schools should have armed guards to prevent another Sandy Hook is to say that armed guards should patrol every place in the entire country.
We are all much more likely to be killed in the car on the way to school.
If a school is that dangerous, do something about preventing dangerous people from entering the building. It's ridiculous to say we need armed guards as a knee jerk reaction to violence without considering the cost. I think it's safe to assume that in general people who think we need armed guards are conservatives who don't want their taxes raised. I'd like to know how they intend to work around that!
If it comes down to paying an armed guard or a counselor/social worker, I'll take the counselor every time. And I'm willing to pay more taxes for that!
Dust off your resume because, like it or not, it's coming. Too much money is being thrown out at both the state and federal levels for school systems to ignore it.
That's what happened with SROs 20+ years ago. The Clinton Administration loaded a few billion for school security into other legislation, primarily the Crime Hot Spots initiative.
No I don't, no I won't, and I'd move my kids if that crap hit the school.
When you get to the point where your fellow students are seen as the problem, it's time to go.
People talking about elementary schools having armed guards are missing the point. Most of the shootings take place in high schools and many high schools around the country already have armed school resource officers or even a police presence on campus.
My school district will be voting on using armed police officers in each school, from elementary to high school.
I am against that, preferring to employ more counselors or others to keep an eye and ear out for kids who are being bullied and resolving those issues with the bully and the bullied. It seems to me that most of the school shooters are children who had been bullied or had bad experiences in school.
I especially do not agree to having armed people in an elementary school!
If your district employs armed officers, how do you feel about it? How do the teachers feel about it?
I do not have children in school any more (I'm retired), but I will have a grandchild in the district.
I'd be interested in both sides of the argument.
The school district I live in is a gold star district, and most people are upper middle class or wealthy.
Thanks for your input. Voting is this Monday night.
The district I taught in (retired now for 15 yrs) and my kids attended has deal w/local police to put cops in schools--middle and high schools--
The district pays half and the PD pays half...
And the high schools (just 2) are large for 10-12 grades--have over 3K students in each
So to me if you were really worried about crime, shooters from outside or inside campus--you would need more officers
In some districts in TX (often unincorporated areas north of Houston) the ISD has its own police force--they carry guns, can arrest violators--can even do traffic stops off campus...
It is a problem because some of them really don't have right training or temperament and are overly aggresive
Both school districts that I have worked in had actual school district police who like all officers have jurisdiction throughout the state. It is little known but during the Rodney King beating by an LAPD squad helping the CA Highway Patrol there was also a LAUSD Police officer at that scene. Some school police may have been cops from general city police agencies and Sheriffs departments before joining but I guess most went through the Sheriff's or a community college police academy with their job offer from a school district. Now in response to Sandy Hook many of the plain clothes officers that were in middle and elementary schools have been put in uniform and agencies like LAPD have their officers make a random visit at a school on their beat during each watch.
One thing about police officers with statewide jurisdiction is that they may get a chief who is aggressive and they do more than secure the schools. LAUSD police hired an ex LAPD Captain as its Chief and suddenly the school police cars were black and white and more officers were in them aggressively patrolling around the schools.
I guess because the money and political will exist to hire enough police for this job unarmed security supplements the single police officer at the smaller elementary and middle schools along with the squad at a high school. Ex cops or armed private security might be in private schools.
Am I comfortable with an armed SRO? About as comfortable as I am with the fact that many schools have become so unsafe. I wish they weren't necessary, but I think they are.
Having been caught in a lock down while sitting alone waiting for a HS guidance counselor I can tell you I was practically praying there was an armed SRO on duty who was capable of dealing with the intruders on campus.
But then I lived in a large urban district where gang activity was a bigger threat than kids getting bullied.
San Diego Unified has had armed police on campus for over 10 years and it's a great thing. They are regular city cops too. It ties in great with the kids doing crossing guards. It also develops a bond between the students and the police department. The cop car sitting in the red zone gives pause to any dirt bags thinking of pulling something stupid.
We also have one way in/out at start and end of the school day. High fences all the way around. So far good results.
Our high school has 2 armed class 3 officers - in a uniform (not a local police uniform), armed with a gun, and they have full police powers. Both are retired cops from our town and know the lay of the land and are familiar (over 25 years each) with the local police and protocols. The elementary and middle schools have one class 3 officer for both schools. Our town police force has regular patrols to support the officers at the schools. I think this is the best situation for our town, although I think the decision to add these officers is more based in fear vs actual need.
For the record, I am not anti-cop; my son-in-law is a law enforcement officer. I am also not anti-gun, so for any of you who responded thinking I am, please don't automatically think that is why I am concerned. Then you must be anti-kid? Because you're basically saying that you don't think school kids should be protected by law enforcement.
Huckleberry, your first three sentences I am in agreement with. I think that, instead of going to the extreme (armed cops in schools) focus should be on the kids and how they treat each other. If they can learn at an early age what is not acceptable behavior, and get the kids who bully others some counseling, the result could be no shootings, instead of ignoring the problem and having at least ONE kid dead. Haven't we been doing that for years now? It doesn't seem to be doing much good. Funny, you're all for counseling bullies, so that there isn't at least ONE kid dead, but you don't want to have them protected by a gun, so there isn't at least ONE kid dead.
I am especially worried about the mental distress of five and six year-olds. We all know how kids think; they don't think like adults. They are practically unable to 'see the big picture'...much less understand it. Those five and six year olds will mimic the stress levels of the adults around them. If the adults have no issue, those kids won't. And if perhaps the kids do, it's up to the adults to ease their distress.
What do parents tell these kids about why there are policemen in their schools? That they are there for their protection? A kid is automatically going to think school is a dangerous place! Instead of being happy to go to school, how many kids will think "I'd rather stay home where I'm safe"? Because that's the way little kids think. What do you tell them when they see a cop on the street? Do you assume they think the "world" is a dangerous place because they see one?
IDK, I'm a product of the "hide under your desk when the nukes start falling" era. Maybe that has some influence on my thought process regarding this issue. Of course, back then the threat wasn't school-specific. We could get bombed anywhere! LOL. I actually think that mind-set contributed to the 60s tumult and change in young adult behavior, as in "live for today because the world is a dangerous place so may as well enjoy it and do what we want now" attitude.
I realize that providing more counselors or lay people to 'keep an eye out' is a long-term solution and will not produce immediate results, but I think it is a mentally and emotionally healthier solution for the children exposed to it.
Not everything should be settled with a gun. You are correct. But our most precious possessions should be protected by one, in my opinion.
JMHO
Comments in red.
Last edited by ringwise; 07-30-2018 at 12:51 PM..
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