School Violence: Unprepared Teachers, Vulnerable Students - Research Paper

Introduction

In the past, there have been cases of violence in schools, but the number has shot up recently. Some students have been attacked in schools with military grade weapons leading to the loss of lives. The students are usually caught off guard, and before the police respond, the damage has already been done by the attacker. What is more alarming is that the teachers who could help the students neither have weapons nor know how to use them, leaving the students vulnerable. Parents, teachers and the students are alarmed by the increased cases and agree that a solution needs to be found. Having armed security guards in learning institutions would solve the issue, but some people believe this would not be the right solution. The paper assesses the importance of having armed security guards in schools.

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Armed security personnel will help to reduce the violence in learning institutions. If an attacker entered a school that had armed security guards, he would not have a chance to cause a lot of damage. The damage will be minimal since the attacker would be stopped first. In our society, crimes are committed every day, and security officers have to deal with them. The police officers have to be armed to deal with cases such as robbery with violence and physical abuse. "Violence and crime on school should not be viewed as being isolated from violence and other forms of crime in the community" (Crawford and Ronald 140). Since armed individuals combat other types of crime, the same should happen in the learning institutions. The lives that the officers would protect in the community are the same as those studying in school. As the safety of every student matters, extreme measures such as putting armed security officers in school should be put in place.

For the school children to be vigilant and observant of the environment, they need armed guards. The students also respond fast in case of an emergency. When an attacker disguises as a student, the student can quickly identify him and take the necessary actions. Interacting with armed security officers helps the students to be alert. "While Milton students learnt that terrorists maintained no political grievances and no rational tactics, they also assessed how the problem of terrorism could be assessed through rational calculations and managed through speculative assumptions," (Nguyen 52). Through interactions with security officers, Milton students learnt about how they could deal with terrorist attacks. In the same way, having an armed security team in schools will allow students to deal with any violence, ranging from mass shootings to extreme bullying cases.

Apart from preventing armed criminals from entering into schools and harming students, the armed officers can serve to reduce cases of fighting and bullying in schools. The number of students being bullied in the United States is very high. However, even the most active bullies would not be willing to pick on their victims when the armed officers are on watch. Bullying has many adverse effects and can even lead to loss of life. The results of bullying include depression, anxiety, sadness and other health complaints. Also, the victims tend to isolate themselves from others and their performance decrease in school. If the bullying is not checked, it could lead to suicides (Gerlinger and Wo 149). Bullying and fighting among students would decrease; therefore if the armed guards were there. In case a fight broke up, the officer would be in a better position to stop it. The officers would play a critical role in controlling the harmful effects of bullying by minimizing it.

By placing security officers in schools, the school will get an opportunity to check everybody who is accessing the facility, including the strangers and the students. In most of the attacks on school, the criminals disguise themselves as students and enter the facilities. They attack when they get inside, surrounded by many unsuspecting students. The wave of efforts marks the latest escalation of security enhancements prompted by horrifying and highly publicized school attacks. "After the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, administrators began routinely practising lockdown drills and hiring police officers. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, districts installed more buzzer systems and limited points of entry on campuses" (Mazzei 1). After an attack on a school, the entry points to the school were being monitored making the entry of criminals harder in such a place. Security guards are essential in controlling who accesses the school making it safer.

Sometimes things happen to students, and neither the parents nor the teachers notice. The armed guards are in a better position to observe the students and children and report any change to the parents so that the students can be helped. If a student started using drugs, the security guards would be able to know faster and report to the teachers. They can identify the pills while they are conducting searches at the entry points (Dohy and Banks 317). The guards will quickly know any change in the behavior of students. Also, in case of an accident or an emergency, the officers will be able to react. The guards can impact the lives of the students by interacting with them to show the different views of things. Students interacting with security officers are likely to have high morals.

However, some people believe that schools are safe and people are overreacting due to recent shootings. The individuals believe that schools are misusing money by building complex security systems and hiring armed officers. "The fear of school shooting has caused many school systems to divert their budgets to excessive building security measures" (Cornell 217). Cornell suggests that the resources should be used in other ways. The increased shootings in schools should, however, serve as a warning to such people. Children have lost died in the past due to the increased violence. Moreover, human life cannot be compared with the resources used. Methods such as installing security checkups and having armed guards will reduce the chances of an attack on a school to almost zero. When lives are saved, the millions used in the process would seem insignificant.

Students may also claim that they do not feel safe when an armed officer is observing them. Some of them even feel intimidated depending on their race. The armed officers moving around with guns create a terrible environment for them to study. Others .may even be tempted to be violent to rebel against the armed guarders (Cornell 217). Although there may be a resistant, however, the students understand that the guards are there to protect them and eventually accept them as part of the school. The few who resist can be made to understand why guards are essential for their safety. Furthermore, the students who are usually bullied or those who are insecure appreciate the step to keep them safe. Instead of considering what the few people who feel uncomfortable with the idea of hiring guards say, we should look at the many who feel safer when officers are around.

Conclusion

The issue of having armed guards in schools to combat violence is a hard one as people hold varying ideas about them. The guards could help reduce violence in schools and also handle bullying. They can also impact on the students by instilling good morals and making them aware of their environment. The students who are uncomfortable with armed police officers moving around with guns can be made to understand the steps were taken for their excellent. Whether people want armed guards patrolling schools or not, everyone agrees that the safety of the students is vital. Schools should, therefore, have armed guards.

Works Cited

Crawford, Charles, and Ronald Burns. "Preventing school violence: assessing armed guardians, school policy, and context." Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management 38.4 (2015): 631-647.

Cornell, Dewey. "Our schools are safe: Challenging the misperception that schools are dangerous places." American journal of orthopsychiatry 85.3 (2015): 217.

Dohy, Jennifer, and Tachelle Banks. "The impact of school policing on student behaviors in Ohio public schools." Journal of school violence 17.3 (2018): 311-323.

Gerlinger, Julie, and James Wo. "Preventing school bullying: Should schools prioritize an authoritative school discipline approach over security measures?" Journal of School Violence 15.2 (2016): 133-157.

Mazzei, Patricia. "Back-to-School Shopping for Districts: Armed Guards, Cameras and Metal Detectors." New York Times, 12 August 2018, p. A1

Nguyen, Nicole. A curriculum of fear: Homeland security in US public schools. University of Minnesota Press, 2016.