Guns and School

Republican Senator Kevin Bryant from Anderson County recently proposed a law to the State Senate that would arm teachers across the state in order to protect students and prevent school shootings. While I think this bill, nicknamed the �Jacob Hall Law� in honor of the elementary school student who died in a school shooting last year has good intentions, I do not agree with it. The liability it would create if an accident were to happen, the tension it would generate, and the added stress to teacher�s everyday jobs make this proposal unpractical and flawed.

            As a student, I oppose this proposal because of the liability it would create. I do not think adding more guns to the situation is a good idea, especially when the guns are being added to a relatively young and unstable environment: school. A few seconds of carelessness by a teacher or a moment of chaos created by a student could transform a regular school day into a tragedy. And whether you agree with me or not, we can all agree that kids have a way of getting their hands on things that they want. If a student really wanted to get his hands on a gun, he would find a way. And with the constant movement and distraction that exists in every school, this bill would make it much easier for that student to reach a gun. Putting more guns in circulation to combat gun violence is not logical.

            As a student who has experienced the public education system in this state for eleven years, giving teachers guns would add tension to the classroom and would distract from the real purpose of school: learning and preparing for the real world. We have all heard of the comparisons between schools and prisons and arming teachers would not help contrast the two institutions. Psychologically, having to witness guns in the possession of our instructors would be a constant reminder of the tragedies plaguing our country. And it would change the relationship between student and teacher even if it was not intended to. Students would see the weapon as a symbol of authority. Similar to the relationship a citizen has with a police officer. While a police officer�s duty is to protect the citizen, it is not the same as a teacher�s duty to their pupils.

            One thing absent from the debate on whether guns belong in school are the teachers. Do we really want to add another responsibility to their job? Teachers teach because it is what they love to do (for the most part). Arming and training them for active shooter situations is not what they had in mind when they decided to pursue a career in education. How willing are teachers to cooperate with this bill? Since no one has really asked that question yet, I decided to. I asked Lisha Sullivan, a Spanish teacher at Ashley Ridge High School, about her opinion on the proposed law. She carefully stated, �I don�t see how teachers can be trained like law enforcement,� adding, �In my opinion, school is not the place for guns. Violence incites violence.�

            If we are willing as a state to become a more militant society then this law is by all means appropriate. But I am not alone in my opposition to the normalization of gun violence nor it�s place in a school environment. I do not have the solution to combat school shootings or gun violence in general, and I know that this bill is not suitable either. But there is one thing I do know. Adding more guns to stop gun violence is a logical fallacy. It�s like fighting fire with gasoline; the flames will get higher. However, replace the fire with violence, the gasoline with a gun, and the wood underneath it with your children. That is what we are dealing with here.

            I will give Senator Bryant credit for generating a conversation about an issue that is very important and needs to be addressed and doing so with good intentions. However, I think he and his team and the entire State Senate need to go back to the drawing board on this one.