Educators and Students Reject Trump’s Proposal to Arm Teachers

Video Editor: Vishal Kumar

After a shooting incident at high school in Parkland, Florida killed 17 people and left 14 wounded, US President Donald Trump proposed the idea of arming teachers so that they can protect the students from such incidents.

I never said “give teachers guns” like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @NBC. What I said was to look at the possibility of giving “concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience - only the best. 20% of teachers, a lot, would now be able to

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018

....If a potential “sicko shooter” knows that a school has a large number of very weapons talented teachers (and others) who will be instantly shooting, the sicko will NEVER attack that school. Cowards won’t go there...problem solved. Must be offensive, defense alone won’t work!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018

President Trump, in a session with parents and survivors, said that a teacher adept at firearms could end an attack very quickly, but not everyone agreed with him. Supporting the teachers who went against his decision, a student said:

They are just a teachers. They shouldn’t be responsible for protecting the entire school. Have armed guards for that, not teachers. Their job is to teach.

Amelia Tennant, a junior at the school.

Students, teachers and victim families who had assembled in Dearborn, Michigan, to raise awareness about mass shooting and violence, confronted Trump’s call. Most of the people believe that the decision of introducing arms in an academic institute is completely unnecessary.

A gun represents violence and what’s negative, and a school is supposed to be a safe house. It represents safety and putting the two together is just illogical. It doesn’t make sense.

Noor Moughni, High School Student

America's largest teachers union also said Trump's call to arm teachers to protect schools from violence won't work.

It not a practical idea, because if you can imagine more guns in that kind of environment you can imagine more accidents, more fatalities. You can imagine more fear.

Becky Pringle, Vice President, National Education Association

Trump says that giving concealed weapons to highly trained teachers would allow them to, in his words, "immediately fire back if a savage psycho came to a school with bad intentions.”

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