The letters N – R – A always stirs up controversial emotions, but even more so after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre (CNN, n.d.). The emotion has led people to form three general camps: 1) those who call for a complete ban on guns of all types, 2) those who want to see a tightening on gun regulations – making it harder for people to own guns and to prevent sick people from owning and using guns, and 3) those who cite the 2nd amendment verbatim and yell at Piers Morgan, like Alex Jones (CNN, 2013).
The NRA will certainly influence the public debate on how we move as a nation to solve our crime problems (Lichtblau and Rich, 2013). Vice President Joe Biden’s commission will affect change by bringing to President Obama a list of suggestions to be considered, either for executive order or mental stimulus for legislation. School leaders will be influenced by members of communities at the local level, too.
All of this influence does not rest with entertaining emotion in determining the route of practices within a school. Instead, school leaders examine courses of action to first make their schools safe before they can help students to achieve greater degrees of higher order thinking and educational success. With a mindful focus on school safety, not hyperbole, should the remainder of this blog entry be digested.
Schools need to have several practices in place in regards to safety. Proper security must pay attention to the entrances and access is to be limited to one entrance. This is where visitor checks are done. Visitors are identified, screened to validate if they can be there, and directed to where they belong. There should be a well-known plan of action when a school encounters issues, be they natural (tornados, earthquakes), fires, or intruders. Frequent drills are to be performed to familiarize both the student body and the adults with the orderly process of such exercises.
There is still an important decision to consider: whether or not to include armed security within a school.
What most people do not know is that armed personnel have assisted with school security in several schools without incident. This has translated to schools not having crises, making them very safe schools where students can focus on learning and benefit from a multitude of collateral benefits (Raymond, 2010). School leaders, community organizers, and parents want exactly that. They want safety and they want schools that foster excellence. It is also true that a school cannot have excellence without school safety.
A multitude of schools within our nation already utilize armed security officers. Police officers are commonly used for security, some of which are off-duty officers. Some states, like Arizona, have implemented volunteers (Billeaud, 2013). Some Texas schools are supporting the idea of arming trained teachers (Smith, 2013). These situations have been done without incident.
I have personally witnessed police officers interacting positively with students. Police officers serve as a reminder to students that safety is of great value to the school. They affirm that that education is sacred to a community.
The only counterargument to using armed security has no merit. It is an emotional, baseless argument, like "Guns have no place being around children." Yet, we have raised several previous generations of students about 'stranger danger' and the ability to approach police officers when the need arises.
Wherever there are large groups of people, it is common for security to be implemented. There are Transportation Security Officers in airports. Federal Air-Marshals fly incognito in airplanes. Police officers routinely patrol outdoor festivals. Not having armed, trained personnel in schools is without question archaic in comparison.
A recent Gallup Poll in mid-December revealed bipartisan support for 'increasing the police presence in schools' (Newport, 2012). This poll indicates how the counterargument to having trained security officers bears very little support. Clearly, there is support for protecting schools with armed personnel because doing so will keep schools much more safe than not having them in place.
Resources
Billeaud (2013) "Arizona Sheriff Launches Patrols Outside Schools" Associated Press. http://www.officer.com/news/10851416/arizona-sheriff-launches-patrols-outside-schools
CNN (n.d.) "Sandy Hook shooting: What happened?" Accessed via: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-timeline/index.html
CNN (n.d.) "Sandy Hook shooting: What happened?" Accessed via: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-timeline/index.html
CNN (2013) Piers Morgan Tonight: Interview with Alex Jones. http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/07/alex-jones-on-guns-in-america-the-republic-will-rise-again-when-you-attempt-to-take-our-guns/?hpt=pm_t1
Newport (2012) "To Stop Shootings, Americans Focus on Police, Mental Health." Gallup. http://www.gallup.com/poll/159422/stop-shootings-americans-focus-police-mental-health.aspx
Lichtblau and Rich (2013) "N.R.A. Envisions ‘a Good Guy With a Gun’ in Every School." New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/us/nra-calls-for-armed-guards-at-schools.htm
Raymond (2010) "Assigning Police Officers to Schools." U.S. Department of Justice: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Publications/e041028272-assign-officers-to-schools.pdf
Smith (2013) "Dewhurst: Texas Should Fund Teacher Firearms Training" The Texas Tribune. http://www.texastribune.org/2013/01/11/lt-gov-texas-should-fund-teacher-firearms-training/
