There are other places to get into fights, if you want to. School's really not a good place for it.
I would hate to go to a high school with such stupid rules.
Ah, yes. Such an uncommon feeling among highschoolers. Don't know how we handle it.
I was afraid of being arrested no matter where it was. Not just in school.
My husband largely felt the same way. He's a minority. Didn't help that virtually all the cops in our area were white dudes.
And I just have to say, if we're that concerned about children overpowering teachers to get their gun, or kids stealing the gun, or the availability of a gun escalating a fist fight into a shooting, it really speaks to the kind of young people we are raising today.
If you lived in San Francisco your perception might be quite different.The only non-white cops I've seen in real life in person have been on the Rez.
ETA: And when I think about it, I do have a strong association in my mind between "cop" and "white, heterosexual male."
If you lived in San Francisco your perception might be quite different.
I think locked classrooms are an eminently practical and cost effective, first-line passive defense. It's something any school can do and even if the effect is only a placebo.
A prohibition of hall passes to use the bathroom needn't be a "zero tolerance" rule either. Most middle school and high school student can hold it till the end of class, and exceptions can be made for those in real need.
I think police in the schools is more problematic. Most of the shooting incidents in schools that I can remember have been in schools were not what anyone would call "high risk". Therefore, we'd have to put police in all the schools just. That may not be viable as a long-term solution and may even make kids feel less safe. After all, if there's a cop in the school, he or she must be there for a reason and therefore there must be something to be afraid of.
The only non-white cops I've seen in real life in person have been on the Rez.
ETA: And when I think about it, I do have a strong association in my mind between "cop" and "white, heterosexual male."
That's unfortunate, and probably does shape your views. If you ever visit Austin, you'll probably be surprised at the number of minority and female cops; come to South Texas, and you'll see a whole lot of 'em with brown skin.
Ah, I didn't realise it was already commonplace. I thought the local police depts would have to hire new officers to be on full time duty at each school, which would require a substantial increase in the federal law-enforcement budget, which comes from tax revenues.Unimportant (and others who have addressed cost: ) A good number of schools in this area have officers on duty; some are present randomly, others are full time. Some volunteer, others are on duty and are therefore paid by the police station, and others are hired as part-time employees making very low wages. I don't know of any school that has paid an officer's full yearly salary. Why would they?
So should gun-owning school teachers carry their personal guns in the classroom?
Yes, if they so desire.
I'd rather there was a cop perpetually on duty at every school.
I don't have a problem with this, either.
I would just add that the teachers should be trained in using their guns because non-trained people + guns = disaster.
Same goes for the possible LEO as well since from what I've heard, way too many don't hone their shootnig skills anymore than is absolutely necessary to keep their jobs.
Why do we need an instant solution? The world didn't dramatically change overnight.
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The instant solution, however, would be to let school personnel carry their concealed weapons to school right now, or to require local police to assign one cop to each school.[/FONT]
The main thing that would concern me about locking classroom doors is the potential risk if there was a fire, violent student, or other emergency inside the classroom. But as long as the door could still be opened from the inside while locked, that wouldn't be a problem.
I can only speak to Illinois, on this, but per the Health, Life, Safety inspections, exterior public school doors have "crash bars" -- the bar that runs horizontally across the door about waist high, to allow anyone inside to gain access to the outside simply by resting their weight against the bar.
All eighteen schools in my county (and two private ones) have exterior doors are supposed to (by school policy) remain locked to outside access during school hours. The same with the Pre-Kindergarten facilities.
They have a camera and buzzer system at the front door and some have electronic key fobs that staff can use to trigger the unlocking of the door.