Teachers: We'll Quit Before Trump Gets Us to Carry Guns

[babylonsister]

Teachers: We’ll Quit Before Trump Gets Us to Carry Guns
The president wants guns in the classroom to deter school shootings. He may end up sparking an exodus of educators in the process.
Sam Stein
02.22.18 3:15 PM ET


In the last 24 hours, President Donald Trump has offered a series of proposals to prevent against another school shooting like the one that claimed 17 lives in Parkland, Florida, last week. None have been as audacious as his idea to arm teachers so that they can respond to a gun-toting intruder in real time.

The president has suggested that roughly 20 percent of teachers be able to carry a concealed weapon in the classroom. Those teachers would be trained in the use of firearms so that they could, in Trump’s words, “immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions.” As an incentive, Trump added, schools could give teachers who choose to carry weapons a bonus for doing so.

It’s unclear who would pay for this all and—more importantly—whether it would be effective or counterproductive. What is clear, however, is the impact it would have on teachers. The Daily Beast asked educators what they would do if they or their colleagues were asked to carry guns in their classrooms. None supported the idea. Many, in fact, said they’d quit teaching.

Here are some of their (lightly edited) responses:

Katie Murray, a New York City Catholic school teacher

The shooting at Sandy Hook scared all of us, students included. One of my third grade boys that year said hearing about the kids who died, “made (his) heart hurt.” I took it upon myself to rearrange the bookshelves in my classroom to create hiding spots and barriers should anything ever happen. Imagine that. Billions (?) of dollars being poured into our military and national security and I'm building a bookshelf fort (filled with books I’ve purchased with my own money) to protect my students from being murdered with assault rifles.

The idea of having a gun in my classroom or any of my coworkers’ classrooms makes me sick. It’s incredibly irresponsible and frankly it’s insane. In 2017 there were over 2,000 accidental shootings. I can only imagine what that number would be if guns were allowed in schools. Like I said, I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation in 2018.

I love my job, I love my coworkers, I love my kids, I love their families. But if arming teachers ever became mandatory I’d walk away from it all. I’d leave behind the hundred or so books I’ve bought for my classroom library, the posters and worksheets and games I’ve made, the decorations and supplies I’ve bought, the lesson plans I’ve slaved over, all of it.

High school special education teacher who requested he remain anonymous

I served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003-2007, I worked my way through college as a paid-on-call firefighter, and for the past 7 years I’ve worked as a special education teacher in the resource side and with students with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities on the life-skills side.

I’ve been through executive security courses as a Marine when I worked for the II MEF Commanding General. {As a firefighter} I responded to car accidents, fires that turned out to be murder/arson scenes, and a variety of other emergency calls. On paper I’d be an ideal candidate for being an armed teacher, but I would resign immediately if I was told I was going to carry a weapon at school.

As a high school special education teacher, my job carries a variety of responsibilities. One period I might be working with a student on factoring/foiling quadratic equations and in another period I’m working with students on reading with picture supports. My daily routine includes problem solving social skills with students, changing diapers, supporting students to complete their writing assignments, communicating with parents, progress monitoring towards IEP goals/objectives, explaining their rights as citizens, assisting with medical needs (seizures/ insulin/ asthma/ etc.) and a variety of other random tasks... I don’t need to add another concern of a student reaching for my weapon to the list of a 1,000 things going through my head as I work with a kid in close proximity. If one of my students with a severe disability has a meltdown over a change in their schedule I should be able to focus on that student and not have to worry about my weapon.

more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/teachers-well-quit-before-trump-makes-us-carry-guns

[njhoneybadger]

1. Teachers with guns is freaking stupid.

[Fresh_Start]

2. Dear parent, your teacher wants to get a 20% raise for carrying a gun in school

of course that means that the teacher won't be available to your child during crisis situations because they are concerned about their gun responsibility rather than ther responsibility to their students.

Do you want your child's teacher to carry a gun?
please note that the responsibility includes pursuing possible threats in other parts of the school building instead of leading your child to safety or to safe shelter in place.

Thank you for your response

[Fred Sanders]

5. Any school arming teachers is going to see 70% of their students being withdrawn by parents not

brainwashed by RW media.

[Fresh_Start]

6. I completely agree with you...

its a stupid idea...and my post was an attempt to show why it would be stupid for a parent to agree to it

[Initech]

3. Well, Trump just handed the GOP their wish of destroying public education.

God damn these fuckers!

[Wednesdays]

12. Indeed, they'll just hire replacements off the street

Hand them a gun, and pay them minimum wage. Problem solved.

[gopiscrap]

4. first of all, who gets sued or loses their job if something goes wrong?

secondly if you give teachers bonuses where's that going to come from, just tell the repuke homeowners that their property taxes are going to go up as a result.. and third and most important:
every teacher I have spoken to has thought this is absolutely fucking crazy.

[AJT]

7. Some crazy ass people are going to become teachers

just so they can carry a gun around school and intimidate kids.

[babylonsister]

10. Wow, I never thought of that. Ugh. nt

[bluestarone]

8. teachers shouldn't be allowed to carry guns EVEN if they VOLUNTEER!

creates an unsafe environment for others! i feel

[PatSeg]

9. Yes

Teachers don't go into the profession to become combat soldiers. If that is what they wanted, they would have joined the military or become police officers.

[C_U_L8R]

11. Toles nailed it