On December 14th, 2012, educational assistant Shari Thornberg was running late to work. She entered Sandy Hook Elementary School around 9:30 A.M. Another person entered the school around 9:30 A.M. His name was Adam Lanza, and he is responsible for taking away the lives of twenty children and six adults. The school doors were locked and Thornberg was buzzed in not knowing a tragedy would soon occur. A few moments later, she heard what sounded like janitors taking down risers and putting up tables. Then Thornberg heard screams and cries. The janitor yelled, “Put the gun down!” There would soon be twenty students and six adults dead along with two injured. In the wake of the #NEVERAGAIN movement, there have been 307 mass shootings in 2018.
So often we hear our representatives debating gun reform in schools. But have we ever asked what our teachers think is the best course of action?
Throughout the months of November and December, we interviewed a total of seven Abington Heights High School teachers in regards to gun violence in schools. Each teacher is either from the English, Math, Science or Social Studies department. The majority of interviewees ultimately said they would be opposed to teachers arming themselves in school. However, Mr. Libro took the opposing side and stood firm in his beliefs that teachers should be armed.
Throughout the interviews, teachers had to answer some hard-hitting controversial questions relating to gun control.
Many of the teachers interviewed stated that nobody will ever be prepared for a school shooting or attack. But the question we pose is are we taking enough precautions? Are we really doing enough?
According to the Washington Examiner, nearly one-third of states already are or want to arm teachers. President Donald Trump believes that arming teachers is the best action to take. We asked seven of our teachers if they agree with the President’s statement.
Here’s what we found:
According to Mr. Gilboy from the social studies department, “Arming teachers is not the answer… We do not have the training… You go into the field of education to work with students and to be a mentor.”
We followed with the question “How would you feel if teachers could arm themselves only if they were comfortable with it?” Math teacher Mrs. Wagner responded saying she is not sure how the school would go about doing so. Her initial feeling towards armed teachers is “uneasy.”
Another teacher said he is not okay with his colleagues being armed because “being comfortable and being trained are different categories.” On the other hand, Mr. Bath believes, “If a person is trained and certified to carry, then maybe that could be a person for consideration in terms of arming and assisting school resource officers,” but he and Mr. Monahan fear that arming teachers and adding precautions like metal detectors would make the school feel more like a prison instead of a place of learning.
Although the majority of teachers said no to arming teachers, some do believe that arming teachers is the best option. For instance, Mr. Libro believes that “armed teachers would most likely be a step toward meeting the objective of making schools a harder target for potential threats of violence.”
There is no way to tell what option will truly work the best. All the teachers that we interviewed did agree on one thing though: that there are still precautions to take around the school and that we may never be fully prepared.
All of the teachers’ answers on how we can prepare ourselves were very similar. They answered with raising mental health awareness, communicating with one another, and being able to trust each other, especially adults. All in all, we as students are trusting our lives in the hands of our teachers, and it's up to them to decide how to protect us.
February 14th, 2018 was supposed to be just a typical Valentine’s Day, a day filled with love and laughter, cheap chocolates and romantic dates. But this was no typical Wednesday for the students in Parkland, Florida. The day that was supposed to be filled with love was instead filled with tragedy. That Valentine's Day in Parkland, Florida started like any other school day, but before the last bell of the day could ring, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School would be known for one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history.
At 2:19 P.M. Nickolas Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School from the east side entrance with a 223-caliber AR-15 rifle. A school employee saw Cruz and alerted administration. Within minutes of entering the building, Cruz pulled a fire alarm and students across the campus began heading for the exits. He then began firing on people he saw in the hallways. After hearing the shots, the school went into lockdown. Some classrooms began to shelter in their rooms and lock doors while other students began to flee. By 2:25 pm Cruz stopped firing, leaving his weapon in a room and left the building by blending in with the other students. 17 people were later announced dead. February 14th, 2018 is now a day that will live in infamy, and a day of remembrance for those 17 people. As one teacher stated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School “Society failed us today.”
Society failed us that day and every day we don't take action to make high schools around the world safer. So the question we ask again is “Are we doing enough?” and “How can we prevent such a tragedy from happening again?”
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