Originally Posted by
Jimbo
I've not read anything except the OP in this thread and so that is what I am responding to here.
It is my belief that violence begets violence. It is also my belief that defeating violence with another kind of violence is still just violence.
Arming teachers and principals at primary schools is certainly one way to go about "protecting" children while at school. However, is this really the kind of society you want to create in the US? One based on mutual fear? Or perhaps you are already at that point, and are now just owning up to it?
Did you know that teachers (of all kinds: primary, secondary, tertiary and miscellaneous) as a group suffer extremely high levels of stress and related mental health issues? Would you implement 3-monthly psych evaluations to assess whether they should still be allowed to have a gun? How would your idea go down if even one teacher blew a fuse and mowed down their class-room with the gun issued to them for the purpose of protecting that class room?
And what do you do if an educator, based on their principles, refuses to accept a gun? I would. Do you then sack them? Will it be part of the job contract? Will shooting practice need to be incorporated into University degrees for teachers? Will professional development days for your child's teacher be spent at the shooting range?
It's your country and you can do what you want with it. But I surely hope that, for the sake of your children, more pondering is taking place because to my mind this is an ill-conceived, hasty, and potentially disastrous suggestion that would do tremendous damage to the mind set of Americans and their poor children.
James.
