"Woody, I need your opinion."

Full time presence. We need more.

“Woody, I need your opinion. A former TU student posted that they would put a gun in their classroom (hidden) in case of a situation like the Conn. school. I told her, if I had a child in her class, I would have them moved. She felt that my response was uncalled for, due to my education level. Do you have an opinion? Thanks.”

 

A former colleague sent this to me yesterday and I have been thinking about it ever since. What helps is that in the last 24 hours a few analyses of mass shootings have been done, and the results show that there is no increase in them over many past years. It seems that way, I guess, because so many have happened in the last several weeks.
Shooters always seem to pick easy targets that they know will be “soft” (no weapons to shoot back). They don’t rush police stations or banks. Schools, malls, theaters all top the list of targets. Even in “carry concealed” states, most have restrictions on where guns can be carried, and schools are off limits. Shooters are cowards. They are mentally sick. They fit a post-event set of common characteristics but defy the ability of society to profile them in advance and secure the public from them. The latest shooter was reported to be a “Goth”. So are thousands of young people who don’t even dream of killing kids in a school.
How to protect ourselves is the question. I think the answer is probably just be vigilant, have a plan and hope for the best. As for gun carrying, maybe it works and maybe it doesn’t. We will never know how many potential shooters thought about the possible guns on the street and decided they were not ready to die yet. But the ones that go through with the attacks seem mostly ready to die, and often kill themselves. Guns in the hands of civilians probably would not deter them. So what about teachers with guns? What about hiding guns in classrooms and theaters and malls so that shooters can be stopped? I don’t think it would make much difference in choice of targets. Shooters are not the rational folks the rest of us are. I think a better solution for schools and other public places would be to have enhanced security arrangements, highly visible, and a plan for everyone to follow in the event of an attack. For schools, maybe more secure entrances. Not prison grade, but something a bit more than a glass door or no fence around the perimeter. A few roving security guards who are child-friendly but vigilant. Strong doors for rooms that lock at the push of a button in the office. Make “lock-down” a really operative process.
I don’t know about arming the teachers. I have a former student, now a teacher who is a retired military man and former police man. He knows how to shoot and when to stand down. Most of the teachers I have taught probably do not.
I think the teacher mentioned above is wrong about my colleague. Her educational level is really irrelevant to the issue. Her choice as a parent is relevant. Her decision to move a child from one class to another for any reason should be hers alone. And BTW TU teacher, no response that is rational is uncalled for. No opinion should be overlooked. As a teacher you should know that.
Image: http://static.news-gazette.com/sites/all/files/imagecache/lightbox_800_600_scale/images/2011/05/19/20110519-204413-pic-837823817.jpg