Preventing Mass School Shootings In The Classroom

Imagine deciphering Shakespeare or explaining how to construct thesis statements and someone interrupts the lesson by walking in the room. These interruptions occur on a daily basis, usually by an office aid delivering a student pass or a principal conducting observations. The interruptions have become so routine that they no longer classify as “interruptions.” In fact, students and teachers have become rather cavalier to people walking in and out of classrooms throughout the day; at no point does anyone seem to suspect anything out of the ordinary would occur. However, what if the person walking in just started shooting people? What means would the teacher and students have to defend themselves?
Although Columbine was not the first, school shootings have been making national headlines ever since. A myriad of debates on the best means for keeping guns out of schools has echoed throughout the nation for over a decade. More shootings have shown there is no guaranteed solution. Since Sandy Hook, these debates …show more content…
The majority of new policies are met with a mixture of praise and criticism. However, it would be a challenge to find any teacher who does not believe it is his or her responsibility to protect the students. Allowing teachers to be armed in the classroom would increase the likelihood of everyone surviving if an active shooter enters the room because it would provide additional protection if the teachers are properly trained. Knowing any of us could be armed by making this policy public knowledge could make the possibility of that shooter entering the building even less likely. Hopefully no school will ever need to evaluate if this was the right decision or not, but in case that day does come, it would be better to determine the effectiveness of allowing teachers to be armed than having to determine how to attend a dozen students’ funerals or leaving my family to plan my