#ArmMeWith: Teachers share what they'd use to prevent school shootings

ByDanny Clemens KGO logo
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
#ArmMeWith: How teachers would prevent future school shooting
Pushing back against calls to arm educators, some teachers are taking to social media to share the tools they'd use to prevent future incidents of school gun violence.

As the nation works to prevent another school shooting, some have called for teachers to be armed in the hope that an educator with a gun could stop an active shooter.

But some teachers aren't so keen on the idea of carrying guns at school are now taking to social media to voice how they'd prevent another school shooting. Using the hashtag #ArmMeWith, educators are sharing the tools they'd prefer to have at their disposal to combat the country's gun violence epidemic.

Many educators are calling for schools to provide robust mental health services for students not only during crises but at all times.

"It isn't enough to teach our children how to read. They need to learn how to deal with the complex emotions facing them + have access to mental health services. We need to remove the stigma - not just for our students/their families, but ourselves too," wrote Virginia teacher Sarah Plumitallo.

"Arm me with restorative justice practices to build healthy communities, decrease crime and antisocial behavior, repair harm and restore relationships," added a California history teacher.

Others have suggested smaller class sizes "so that no student ever feels invisible," empathy training "to empower students to understand other human beings" and a school culture that "sees students as more than a test score."

The notion of arming educators is part of a larger school-safety discussion. Education secretary Betsy DeVos recently told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that states "clearly have the opportunity and the option" to allow qualified educators to carry guns on school campuses, adding that it needs to be part of a "broader, more robust conversation about how can we avoid these things in the future."