Allowing teachers to carry guns in school will only put black children in danger

A generation of scholars in this country have grown into maturity, with energetic shooter drills and police presence in schools shaping their school years. Lawmakers simply cannot – or will not – take the essential actions to stop the school shootings which have marred the education landscape for a long time.

An example of this political impotence was recently observed in Tennessee, only one 12 months after the state’s collapse the deadliest shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School claimed the lives of three adults and three nine-year-olds, some conservative state lawmakers have passed a bill that might allow teachers and staff to carry concealed weapons. The bill passed by an awesome majority of votes and has just been signed into law by Governor Bill Leedespite pleas from protesters, including a mother from Covenant School who gave birth a letter with over 5,300 signatures, including from parents and doctors, calling for the measure’s failure.

Supporters of the bill argue that it will help fill gaps in school security where law enforcement presence is proscribed, especially in rural areas, and that requiring annual training, background checks and making applications subject to approval by school principals and native law enforcement will address concerns about arming teachers.

But giving teachers guns won’t make schools safer.

As unarmed Black individuals are disproportionately victimized by police in communitiesTennessee law endangers black children. Black children are already disproportionately subjected to excessively punitive discipline. Tennessee law will allow teachers to carry concealed weapons without notifying parents or students that teachers are armed. What is most annoying is that this motion is contrary to tests this shows that punitive interventions, reminiscent of increased police presence in schools, have little positive effect on school violence. If guns in schools are an issue, why do lawmakers pass bills to put more guns in schools? I argue that policymakers are reluctant to enact evidence-based school safety interventions, reminiscent of gun control measures and restorative practices, because they espouse a “school safety” narrative that’s racist, narrow-minded, and divorced from research.

Many of the interventions implemented in schools in the name of “school safety” are racist, meaning they’re based on stereotypes about them black youth crime. These stereotypes portray black students as lazy, criminally inclined, intellectually limited and defiant. These stereotypes persist despite research showing this Black students now not misbehave than their white peers. As a result, Black children are disproportionately subjected to overly punitive disciplinary interventions, including suspensions, expulsions, and arrests, that facilitate their exclusion from schools.

Education

Moreover, schools with over 80% black and Latino children they’re more likely to have police on site, often called school resource officers (SROs). Presence of SRO increases the likelihood of black students being arrested and early involvement in the criminal legal system — often for minor offenses like dress code violations (which particularly affect black girls). This is school-to-prison pipeline. Additionally, police presence in schools is more likely to foster a hostile school climate, of which many exist students feel threatened. AND recent research found that support for teachers selecting weapons is related to racial resentment.

Students affected by this problem suffer Consequences of punitive disciplinary practicesincluding lack of worthwhile study time, decreased likelihood of graduating on time, and increased likelihood of repeating a grade. Black children bear the best burden of punitive disciplinary interventions enforced under the guise of school safety, while the deadliest incidents of school violence, in the shape of school shootings, are more likely to occur in predominantly white, suburban school communities. However, these disciplinary practices persist because the general public narrative about school safety focuses narrowly on these terrifying, nevertheless, relatively rareacts of school shootings.

In addition to exposing Black students to the results of those disciplinary practices, limited public narrative about school safety obscures other types of violence occurring in schools. It comprises violence at schoolreminiscent of teaching prohibitions regarding the contributions of Black Americans and other historically marginalized groups, reminiscent of LGBTQIA+ people, to this country, reminiscent of 2021 Tennessee Bill Prohibiting Teaching of So-Called ‘Divisive Concepts’ like racial inequality. In addition to violence in the curriculum, many students also experience violence in the shape of disinvestment in education. Tennessee has one of the vital unfairly funded education systems in the nation, rating forty fourth in the country in terms of spending per student. These funding inequities disproportionately affect low-income students in segregated schools, who lack resources reminiscent of experienced teachers, college preparatory courses, and high-quality facilities. Instead of putting more guns in schools, Tennessee lawmakers should use their legislative power to invest in interventions which have been found to promote real school safety.

These interventions must be evidence-based, community-led, and responsive to what students need to feel secure in schools. School safety must be defined by students, school staff and leaders, and other members of the school community, and should look different in each school. To help school stakeholders discover essentially the most effective interventions for them, researchers have identified several interventions and practices that promote safety and inclusion, reminiscent of: restorative practices, social and emotional learning, multi-level behavioral support systemsAND continuous training biased towards all adults in school who come into contact with young people. These interventions have to be tailored to the particular school context and implemented in a culturally sensitive manner.

Arming teachers will only increase the harm that current disciplinary interventions inflict on Black students—possibly with deadly consequences. Instead of putting more guns in schools, lawmakers need to be politically courageous and implement them gun control and security measures invest in evidence-based interventions, developed with community input, that meet school needs and may promote true safety for all students.