Tasers in the classroom?
Categories: Health & safety, Education
Tasers have gotten a lot of bad press lately, what with over-zealous use by some members of the law enforcement community. In fact, I'm not sure there really could be anything but bad press about the devices which use electricity to shock a target into submission. Still, that has not stopped their widespread deployment.One Pennsylvania school district is now considering adding the (generally) non-lethal weapons to their security team's arsenal. Don Homer, director of security for the Uniontown Area School District and a trained Taser instructor, met with the school board and parents to make his case for purchasing three Tasers. "We have to think of the future," he said. "I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it."
Parents and other staff, however, don't seem so convinced. "This is not a safe idea," said Mary Hackney, a school teacher with thirty-five years of experience. Others questioned the need for the devices and asked what prompted the request.
I'm not sure I get why the school district is considering purchasing the Tasers, but when I was in school, the police that patrolled the school grounds carried handguns only. I can't decide if having a non-lethal alternative is a good thing or if the non-lethal option would be used more frequently in cases where the situation would have been handled previously without using a weapon.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sabrina 8-09-2008 @ 8:37PM
My high school french teacher moved out to that school district to become a principal in one of the schools. I can never see him agreeing to this sort of thing!
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ninainindia 8-10-2008 @ 12:49AM
Really? You had police with handguns patrolling the schoolgrounds? That is just scary, I have never heard of anything like that!
There should not be any weapons in schools, that includes tasers.
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missias 8-10-2008 @ 11:20AM
I agree with Nin -- all weapons are inappropriate. Tasers are even worse than guns, because police think of them as nonlethal, while they have frequently proved otherwise. (One can only imagine how much more dangerous they would be for smaller bodies in a school!!)
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LS 8-10-2008 @ 12:35PM
Yes, all weapons *are* inappropriate, until we encounter a Columbine-like situation, and then we stand, wringing our hands and saying, "Why wasn't this prevented?"
I don't think anyone is suggesting that the Tasers be used in everyday classroom situations, as the title suggests. (Johnny mouths off? ZAP!! Passes a note? ZZZAAPPP!!... hardly)
We have to consider of both sides of the situation, and face some pretty harsh realities... we, as a society, regularly tie the hands of teachers, principals, and administrators when it comes to the discipline of students. We set ridiculous rules (zero tolerance on drugs and weapons has extended to lemonhead candies and plastic butter knives) and freak out when they're followed. We refuse to be the adults in situations where adults are sorely needed. School is a place for learning, but we have turned it into a place where students are encouraged to revolt, disobey, and generally hold contempt against authority. When that happens, you're going to have situations break out. And then how do you want them handled?
Do you want the kids who come to school with guns to end up dead or simply incapacitated, until they can be dealt with in a more appropriate fashion? Because once it reaches that level, no amount of sitting down and talking is going to work.
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Mike 8-10-2008 @ 2:41PM
If the school needs a non lethal weapon to disrupt ILLEAGAL situations, bring it on. The next time YOUR kid comes home stoned or a cop comes to your door saying umm, Im sorry but your kid is dead from a violent fight or drug overdose during school hours,
YOU MIGHT THINK TWICE.
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Jenn 8-10-2008 @ 3:00PM
We had armed police officers on campus at my public high school in Texas as well (this was 20 years ago). But these were not school security -- they were Richardson Police Department officers stationed at the school, and they were fully uniformed, including the gun! And this was a very good school in a nice neighborhood; it was standard practice at that time to assign an office to the campus during the school day.
Remember also that police officers stationed on school campuses are not there just to deal with the kids -- they are there to protect the kids as well. From other children (another poster mentioned a Columbine-like incident, for example) or from others. When schools go on lockdown due to some sort of incident in the neighborhood, don't you feel mildly better knowing there is someone there who can protect them?
However, having police officers assigned to the school is one thing. I'm not sure how I'd feel if these were security officers, not fully fledged police. And certainly, there is no possible way I'd be OK with these being available to and/or used by teachers or administrators of the school itself.
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ninainindia 8-11-2008 @ 12:06AM
The main question probably is "Why is this necesary?" how do these children get their hands on guns and weapons? I don't know anyone that has a gun or knows how or where he could get one.
It's sad that they seem to be battling violence with more violence. Why not look at the source and make guns unavailable?
Also having seen the footage of Columbine a taser would not have stopped those guys or anyone with a gun.
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Don 8-11-2008 @ 8:19AM
I could see one of these being used on a student, that student becoming so mad to return to school with a firearm to take retribution on said school employee for the wrong doing the student felt for being tased.
I would rather have a seasoned armed police officer with some additional training regarding how to deal with youths rather than school administrators carrying tasers.
Another issue with something like this is what happens when one of these is turned on a teacher or principle, I could see someone being mobbed by teens then to have a taser turned on them to be repeatedly shocked.
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