According to the Washington Post, the United States has the highest amount of murder by guns in the world.
After the recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, a new controversy over gun control has broken out across the nation.
Schools are attempting to find solutions to gun control as the concern for student safety is becoming more prominent.
How far should schools go to protect the well being of their students and faculty?
Many schools are taking the thought of armed guards into heavy consideration.
This is not a good idea and schools should not be turning to such drastic and violent measures.
There are many other ways to insure school safety than having armed guards.
“I think with the result of the tragedy, we should have less guns instead of more guns,” said freshman Annie Kline. “Putting in armed guards would promote fighting violence with violence.”
Guns are the problem in the first place, so why would more guns be the solution?
Elementary schools, especially, should not even consider armed guards because adults impact very young children.
Having armed guards would put the idea in children’s heads that having a gun would keep them safe and that guns are a necessity.
Furthermore, it will also leave students feeling very unsafe when attending school.
“If armed guards were implemented into the school on a daily basis, I feel like it would be more nerve-racking for the students,” said senior Emma Brezel. “It would feel as if the school was always surrounded by constant danger rather than being protected.”
Mandatory armed guards will send the message to students that violent crimes are a frequent problem at their school, which would most likely cause greater anxiety.
When seeing how prisons have armed guards, schools with armed guards could give off a similar prison-like impression.
It is obvious that people do not feel safe at a prison and they would not feel safe when attending their school.
“Having armed guards on school property would not be the right environment for students,” said freshman Stella Rae Burrows. “Rather than making them feel safe, it would instill fear and anxiety.”
Instead of having armed guards, it is better to prepare ourselves for certain emergency situations.
For example, teachers and students should be trained for emergency situations and should be taught the appropriate actions to take during different crises.
Most students and staff members are not adequately prepared to face disasters. However, the presence of armed guards in a school setting would just spark nerves rather than help the student body. Instead, schools need to wake up and come up with ways to prepare students, instead of just preparing guards.
Students do not just need to feel safe, but also need to know that they could save themselves, not wait for a guard to save them.
This issue is being discussed all over the nation and although principals and leaders of school boards are looking at the pros, it is time they look at how armed guards may negatively impact the experience of going to school.