Teachers as Policemen?: Don't Add it to our Job Description

It's been a long time since I have written in this blog. No excuses except that I have been busy writing my books: NARC! A John Doyle Mystery and Precious Package: A John Doyle Mystery and their follow-ups in the series. But something brewing in education has been eating at me lately and that is the movement in my state, Texas, to arm their teachers.

I'm a retired teacher. When I began teaching in 1971 I never went into the profession to be a social worker, a parent to those who had none or a babysitter but because of changing times I took on all those roles. Add to that the role of a psychologist, a priest, a paper pusher and computer technician, all of which I gladly accepted. But to become the law enforcer and 'pseudo' cop in the school was something I didn't sign on for.

I can't even imagine going into my classroom, a la John Wayne, packing my weapon on my person or in my briefcase and still being able to create a positive environment for learning. What do I do? Lock the gun up in my file cabinet. That'd be a big help if my school was being attacked by some student we probably let down in the first place. Do I strap it to my ankle like a FBI agent? That would be a burden and I could never cross my legs when teaching. It would scare the 'crap' out of my students. There has to be a better way.

I have never owned a gun but I'm not anti-guns to the extent I could ever believe they could be eliminated. That would be too Utopian. The United States was created by violence and perpetuated throughout its development by the use of force to solve its problems. A race was subjugated and enslaved by the use of guns and the threat of violence while another one was almost extinquished in the name of progress by the same violent force. So we are trapped into the belief that guns solve every problem. It's in this nation's DNA! It's fine to have guns to hunt with and perhaps even target practice. It is okay if someone feels the necessity to own a gun to protect their family at home but there needs to be a limit. Enough is enough. It's like the old Nuclear arms race. How much do we really need to kill the world?

My neighbors pack their guns and more are being purchased as I write. I don't know who is carrying a gun in their car while I drive with them or in the grocery store where I shop. We have created a society that says it is Christian yet we break the commandment of 'Thou Shall Not Kill' daily. Now someone high up in our State's government wants people whose professional responsibility is to teach the children and hopefully instill values into them to carry a gun in the classroom. What kind of double standard is this to our youth? What message would we be sending?

They are holding classes in Texas for teachers to disarm and stand-off a shooter. I cannot picture many of my former colleagues even attempting this. Perhaps a coach or a very young teacher who could handle the stress and physicality necessary to complete the manoevers. I suppose it's better than shooting the person and perhaps injuring someone else in the process. Like many of the programs I was coerced to learning while I was a teacher it too will go by the wayside. Teachers, isn't it wonderful how all those great programs we had to learn end when the money from the grant dries up. They were wonderful and state of the art until the funding ended.

I want our schools to be safe. I want them to be sanctuaries for the children. I think we need to create atmospheres in schools that negate the use of force. We need to better identify the students who have tendencies towards violence and we need to educate our staffs on these tendencies. We also need to allow the police forces that our schools have had to invent to carry the guns, not the teachers. Notice that school shootings take place in upwardly mobile schools not in the ghettos and underprivileged schools. Those places are the safest areas their students often have during the day. We need to instill values in ALL students that killing isn't the answer. We need to bring GOD back into our schools. I am proud to say that HE never left my classroom.

If I Ran the Schools there would be one teacher who would not carry a gun- ME!