Yesterday, Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill that would allow school personnel to carry concealed weapons on school grounds. As a teacher, myself, I have to weigh in on this one:
I’m sorry, but I will never carry a gun in my classroom, under any circumstances. I have all the respect in the world for law-enforcement and military personnel. But the truth is, if I wanted to be a security guard, a cop, or soldier, I would’ve pursued a career in one of those fields. As a teacher, I wear enough hats already.
Where’s my pencil?
As a teacher, it’s easy to misplace things – especially with up to 30 kids in my classroom during any given time of the school day. With that many bodies in the same space, things get moved. Things get borrowed. Sometimes, thing even get stolen. I’ve been very fortunate that, over the last 20 years, I can only recall having one thing stolen from my classroom – and that was a cell phone charger cord. In the defense of the school community, it was a total brain fart on my part. I left thing sitting on my desk as I left the room for 10 minutes. 99 times out of 100, i would have out in my desk drawer and it never would have been an issue. Some teachers have an even worse go of losing thing / having things stolen. what if they were carrying in the classroom? I don’t think any teacher would be foolish enough to have a sidearm leave their person, but what if?
Does it make the kids feel safer?
One if the most important things a teacher can and must do is create the atmosphere of a safe place in their classroom. I know the term safe space sounds kind if cheesy, but it is what it is. School shootings are horrific tragedies and they are a part of our world now. and the fact is, 99+% of kids go to school everyday and never end up experiencing a school shooting. Would it really make students feel safer knowing their teacher is packing? To make matters worse, I’ve known more than my fair share of teachers who i wouldn’t want anywhere NEAR a gun, let alone carrying one. Teachers who are too high-strung. Teachers who are absent-minded. Teachers who have been behind the desk for so long, that they couldn’t find a coherent thought with a flashlight. We’ve ALL know a few of them.
Debunking the “good guy with a gun” argument
A lot of gun-nuts (and yes, I call them gun-nuts because I believe in the spirit of the 2nd amendment) will tell you that “a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun”. Every time I hear this argument, I think I back to the 2017 country music concert that was headlined by &
Jason Aldean in Las Vegas. It became the largest mass-shooting in American history. I remember know if the musicians talking about the fact that their own security had guns but even if they got to them dying the shooting, it would have caused chaos with multiple people opening fire. This forced the musician to re-evaluate their personal stance on carrying firearms.
Look at the shootings at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. Police, the “good guys with guns” waited ONE HOUR before they confronted the shooter. I understand that guys to s behind waiting to respond – not knowing how many shooters there were; how heavily armed he was – but all that does is debunks the oversimplified idea that “a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun”.
The numbers game
Kids aren’t dumb. They can look around a classroom and realize that there 20-30 of them and only one teacher. Of a student, or a group of students decided they wanted to take a gun from a teacher, they going to get it. The rule is numbers just plays out here.
Conclusion
I’m going to maintain my position that America still needs stricter gun control laws. The fact is that no other constitutional amendments guarantee absolute, unlimited freedom. The first amendment itself doesn’t protect ALL speech. Any speech that presents a clear and present danger to other is not protected under 1A. Perhaps the best example of that is about “fire” in a crowded theater. Because if the. Who’s that would ensue, such language is. It protected as free speech. Why do we treat the second amendment differently?
At the end of the day, for me, the idea of carrying a gun in my classroom does not make ME feel any safer? In fact, the idea of needing a gun in a classroom makes me feel less safe. for several years, I taught in one of the rougher zip codes in what has historically been on of America’s more violent cities. NOT ONE TIME did the idea of owning – let alone carrying – a firearm EVER enter my mind. As a teacher, am I supposed to create a safe learning environment when I actually feel less safe there myself?
Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:
- Sunday is borrowed time
- Teacher Armor and the Saturday Clearing
- The Extra Day: A Ten-Year Memory
- Of Training Wheels and Christmas Lights
- Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)
The article “Rob Reacts: ‘Tennessee legislators pass bill that would let teachers carry guns in schools’” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.
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