In my many years in the classroom, I was verbally assaulted by students, threatened with death, and even punched. I've seen fights in schools and even broken them up. I've taken knives away from students. Teachers that I've worked with have been hit and threatened by students and parents. There have been times when my possessions and those of my colleagues were stolen or vandalized. However, I would never support teachers carrying guns in schools.
(Note: Even though I may have had some "bad" experiences, I always regarded teaching as a wonderful profession. Let me relate one story...... I had a class with a rude, large, outspoken fourteen year old boy. The school was located in an upper middle class suburb. Without telling him, I invited the boy's mother to come to class and watch how her son behaved. After the class, the mother told me that she would work harder to have her son behave properly in my classroom. She also told me that she would never, ever want my job, even for a million dollars. I did see an improvement in the boy's behavior because I threatened to have his mother visit again. No guns were used.)
According to a story at Reuters, teachers at Harrold Independent School District in Texas will be able to carry guns into the classroom. The district school board approved the measure. Are they nuts??????????? What if a student takes the gun? Could the gun misfire?
I earnestly hope that the school board at Harrold Independent School District re-think their decision about guns in schools. It might be worthwhile for the school board members to spend some real time in their schools examining what really goes on in the classroom, in the school halls, and even the lunchroom.
