Assignment 2: Persuasive Paper Part 1: A Problem Exists
Frank Wilkins
ENG 215 Research and Writing
Professor David Coia
Recently we have had to many shootings in our schools. To many of our young students are being killed. Should we to arm our teachers, or do we get tougher on gun control? Politicians today are playing for their seats and won’t protect our kids with tougher gun laws. This is a debate that needs to be addressed and give our kids protection and allow gun carrying citizens to keep their Second Amendment rights. We must come together on common ground and have a debate on the issue to protect both sides. How do we protect our kids in school is the question? Since January 1, 2018, we have had 17
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So how do we protect our kids? Do we arm our teachers? This is a good debate that both sides can come together and protect our kids. So how do we go about doing this? There are already armed guards in our schools, but they need more help. Arming our teachers would give them that help to reduce school shooting. Not all teachers want to carry a weapon, and politicians and other groups for and against guns quickly took sides on that issue. Having more armed teachers with guns would deter soft targets. There are pros and cons to both sides. Arguments for guns in school include: Politicians, NBA games, Banks, NFL games and airports have more security than our students. Schools are vulnerable, and arming teachers and staff would create buffers against threats until first responders arrive on the scene, and gun-free zones don’t stop criminal’s intent on harm.
“President Trump’s on his position to arm teachers to protect schools, asking to 'harden' schools: "If you're going to continue with this nonsense about a gun free zone... it is such a target for the killer" (Santoni 2018). Arming staffers would allow police and first responders time to get to the school. Arguments against guns in school are: Teachers want to focus more on school and teaching, rather than carrying a firearm in class. Some worry about the guns that they carry in class would somehow be turned against them. There are many debates on
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We don’t need to arm all teachers within the school system, only the individuals that want to. Teachers in school should be able to concentrate on teaching class, however the teachers that are properly trained with weapons should be allowed that right. This is part of the Second Amendment. The amendment reads: “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” (Second Amendment) Small towns around the country are teaching individuals how to protect themselves with firearms. In Sidney, Ohio, a small city west of Columbus, the school board voted to arm teachers in 2013, just after the Sandy Hook massacre in December 2012. Much of the city and surrounding area is struggling. Schools, health care centers and other social services in the area strain to meet the community’s needs. This process is going to cost each county that implement this process into system. They would have to annual training and take time out for teachers to attend gun ranges and class time. According to the Gifford Law Center, ten states still allow concealed weapons in school. Another big exception to the Gun-Free Zones Act is that adults can be allowed to carry firearms on school property with school permission. As of 2013, schools in 18 states had allowed adults to carry guns with some form of school
Michael Eisinger an eighth grade science teacher says, "If a gunman is going to cause violence in a school, they are going to have the element of surprise," "My guess is that they would still be able to shoot teachers, students or whoever else they wanted before some sort of coherent response materialized. (Huffington Post) Arming teachers isn’t going to solve the problem. We still will end up with deaths in schools. The gunman may decide to take the professors gun as well, which will result in the enemy having another harmful weapon.
One of the biggest debates in education is how to respond to gun violence in schools. According to BBC, “There were 64 school shootings in 2015” (BBC). One response to the rise in gun violence in schools is to arm teachers. Even our President has mentioned “giving a bonus” (Davis 2) to teachers that The fact that the idea of arming teachers is even being discussed is disappointing. Bringing more guns into a school is not the answer to gun violence. Most people that defend the idea that guns will “help” keep schools safe have basically three points: (1) teachers will be trained in gun safety, (2) it helps deter potential school shooters, and (3) it will make the students feel more safe. Even though there is some truth to those points, I think that the cons of arming teachers vastly outweigh the pros of arming teachers.
Everyone knows that parents’ first worry is the safety of their children. With the increase of violence in schools, parents have started to wonder if their children are really safe in the school setting. Shootings like Sandy Hook and Columbine left parents, administrators, and educators feeling the need to be proactive towards children’s safety. Reacting to situations like these is not good enough when children’s lives are on the line. Administration has started to brainstorm different ways to help insure the protection of their students. The idea of having teachers carry concealed weapons has been on the front burner for quite some time. As a result of this extreme idea, insurance companies have started to increase or even cancel policies with schools that have armed teachers because of the high risk they are putting themselves at. Parents and administrators also worry about the idea of children getting their hands on one of the teachers’ weapons and injuring themselves or other students. Because this idea seems quite extreme, I believe there are other alternatives that are less dramatic and more positively out looked, such as having armed security guards in schools.
One reason teachers should not be able to carry guns because guns are currently illegal in schools; Guns are illegal because they are dangerous. The Gun Free School Zone Act (GFSZA) is a federal law that was accepted in the United States in 1990. According to the GFSZA, “It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.” In order for teachers to carry guns, we would have to discard this law. Also, the school board would have to create a new policy, allowing teachers to carry guns. Adjusting the rules would be time consuming and confusing. Changing the GFSZA would make students tense and distract children from learning. Citizens from CNN Politics say, “72.4% of educators said they would be unlikely to bring a firearm to school if allowed to do so.” This data shows that the majority of teachers do not even want possession of a gun in the classroom. School officers have the right to carry guns, teachers should just focus on education. Not only does it create a huge responsibility, there would also need to be a large financial investment to supply guns for every school. This money would be hard to come up with, and not everyone is in favor of sacrificing money for firearms.
... a high school student, I don’t take much stock in the safety codes and drills in place to keep students safe in the event of a shooting. I would feel much safer knowing my teacher has the ability to protect the class, rather than hide and lock the door. An educator is responsible for the students in their class. They are responsible for their education and their safety while the children are in their classroom. The safety of fifteen or more students would be much more easily secured by one person if that person was armed. Promoting teachers to arm themselves also prevents school shootings; criminals don’t attack a victim that can fight back. At least 60% of school attacks would be prevented with an armed faculty warning sign. School faculty members should be armed to secure the safety of the countries students, and in hand prevent the majority of potential shootings.
School shootings are still happening and we have to put a stop to it. We need to have these teachers prepared and ready to fight. Students to deserve to have their lives out to rest knowing something could have been done that’s why we need to have these teachers armed. This is a cold world if someone enters a school with a weapon teachers need to have their weapon ready too for the sack of their children. A school is a fun place to learn but to also keep safe. This is why teachers should be armed.
School shootings have the ability to be stopped. They are largely one of the worst repeated tragedies our great nation has endured, and they should be stopped today! No terrorist wants to go out in his/her infamous blaze of “glory” by failing in their attempt. Arming educators has the capability to end school shootings in this decade. “And I haven’t even touched upon the pure deterrent effect of a potential mass murderer having to worry one of his targets might be armed” (Concealed Weapons). This quote presents the very real possibility that just if teachers are armed, future shooters will reconsider and possibly not attempt it at all. Providing this overwhelming deterrent in the foremost thoughts of a would be murderer emphasizes the positive effect concealed weapons operated by teachers could
Ultimately, both sides agree that guns are dangerous around anybody no matter if it’s in school or in the public. It’s what you do to prevent it from being dangerous that helps. Guns would just risk students’ lives, guns won’t always stop a student with suicidal and psychological problems, and it should be left out so students should be able to express themselves freely without feeling threatened. Even if I’m a 6 ft.2in, 260 pound guy I would feel threatened at the sight of a concealed weapon.
There's a problem in America. Children, defenseless are being shot one by one. They go to their school and the schools are a gun free zone. The shooters take advantage of it and take the children's lives. Teachers should be able to carry a handgun to protect their children. This is very important, to all teachers and students for their safety. Shooters wouldn't come in the school knowing that the teacher had a gun. Students would feel way safer. There would be a lot of safety that would go into this.there are a lot of facts that can help us make the decision.
The shootings that have happened in the schools throughout the Unites States over the past few months have created a great divide among Americans on what we should do as a nation to prevent further shootings from happening. Many people believe that imposing new laws on purchasing weapons by requiring background checks, holding adults responsible for the actions of their children and requiring gun locks on weapons to prevent children will stop these massacres in our school from happening. There are many issues that need to be looked at in order to decide which laws are necessary.
When someone has a license to carry a concealed firearm, it does not mean that they should be able to carry wherever they would like. No one person is responsible enough for that privilege. In a high stress situation of an active shooter scene, even a highly trained person can make a bad assessment of the situation. Someone that just bought their first firearm or just got their license to carry, can make the situation worse. Firearms should not be allowed on any school campus because they are dangerous, can lead to more gun violence, and more innocent deaths due to inexperience.
In this article Emmett Tyrell informs us about gun violence in schools and what the NRA has proposed to stop the gun violence, and mass shootings across America. While the gun control debate rages, many schools have become war zones, and all school zones are vulnerable. The National Rifle Association's has come up with a 225-page report contains dozens of recommendations to improve safety in our nation’s schools. The NRA’s National School Shield program will train and enable school personnel to carry firearms to protect our nation’s children.
With all of the school shootings that have happened lately I’m sure that most parents would want their child protected at any cost. As of January 2014, there had been an average of one school shooting every other school day. What are the schools doing to protect our kids when they are away from us at school? What more can be done to protect them? We are not able to be with our kids while they are at school, but we surely want to know that if a gunman does try to enter the school, there are measures in place to protect them. Should teachers be allowed to carry a handgun while in class? In my position argument I will discuss reasons that I feel that teachers should be able to carry while in class.
“Since 2013, there have been over 200 school shootings in America, an average of nearly one a week”(Everytown Research). How safe is our family members at school? Allowing teachers and staff to carry guns could lower that number. Some people may disagree with it, saying that it would be teaching students violence. School shootings would be a thing of the past if staff were armed.
Violence in schools has spread widely throughout the nation. This has caused many problems among students, families, faculty of schools, and residents of the areas. However, there are many possible ways we can stop all this violence in schools. Almost three-fourths of the United States teens are afraid of violent crime amongst their peers (Apfel 23). Violence in schools has become a big problem in todays society. With all the people being injured or killed in schools by guns and other weapons, more and more people are getting more weapons to bring in to schools. Nearly half of all males and one-third of all students including females said they could easily obtain a handgun if they wanted to (Glazer 14).