teachers with guns

Well, as promised, here are some conclusions I (anne marie) have reached after reading the aforeposted article.

As wild as it may sound, I think that the school administrators may have come up with a good solution. It definitely could contribute to creating an atmosphere where students may be deterred from a particular action because of the uncertainty surrounding which of their teachers may be carrying a concealed weapon. I know that I personally would take that into consideration if I were thinking about doing something where a teacher carrying a gun might interfere with my plans.

I think this plan was well-thought out and planned with all the training and testing required of the teachers interested in carrying a weapon.

I do not, however, think it is a solution for every school or school district. This plan was chosen for this particular school a lot due to its location and distance from the sherriff's department. In my time in schools of varying types and locations, I have found that metal detectors often work very well (though they are not a fail-safe solution) as well as cameras and security guards. Though no school security plan is 100% foolproof, I think this school has chosen the one that works the best for them. And more power to them for doing it. I think more schools and districts should spend as much time trying to find the best solution instead the easiest and cheapest.

And as my good friend Forrest always says, that's all I got to say about that.

I found this article on MSN today and found it interesting.

AUSTIN, Texas - Along with normal first-day jitters and excitement, students in this tiny district started school Monday wondering which teachers might be toting firearms.
"It was kind of awkward knowing that some teachers were carrying guns," said Adam Lira, 17, a senior. "I don't feel like they should be, 'cause we already have locked doors and cameras. But I didn't feel threatened by it."

Several parents said they had no idea that employees of the K-12 school were allowed to carry concealed guns on campus until recent publicity about the school board's policy, approved quietly last fall. They said they were upset that the rural community near the Oklahoma border had not been able to give input.

While some parents said they felt their children were safer, others opposed the plan, which appears to be the first of its kind nationwide. "As far as I'm concerned, teachers were trained to educate my children — not carry a gun. Even police officers need years of training in hostage situations," said Traci McKay, whose three children are among the 110 students in the red-brick Harrold school. "I don't want my child looking over her shoulder wondering who's carrying a gun."

But Harrold Superintendent David Thweatt said the board approved the policy in an October open meeting that had been publicized. He said the decision was made after nearly two years of researching the best school security options at the school, which is just off a busy highway and 30 minutes away from the sheriff's office. "When you outlaw guns in a certain area, the only people who follow that are law-abiding citizens, and everybody else ignores it," Thweatt said.

The superintendent said some of the school's 50 employees are carrying weapons, but he wouldn't say how many. When pressed further, he first said that revealing that number might jeopardize school security. He then added that he considered it to be personnel information and not a matter of public record.

Each employee who wants to carry a weapon first must be approved by the board based on his or her personality and reaction to a crisis, Thweatt said. In addition to training required for a state concealed weapons license, they also must be trained to handle crisis intervention and hostage situations.

State education officials said they did not know of any other Texas schools allowing teachers to carry guns. National security experts and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said they did not know of other U.S. schools with such a policy.

School districts in some states, including Florida and Arizona, have closed loopholes that allowed guns on K-12 campuses. Utah allows concealed weapons at public universities but not at primary or secondary schools.

Thweatt said the board took extra precautions, such as requiring employees to use bullets that will minimize the risk of ricochet, similar to those used by air marshals on planes.
"I can lead them from a fire, tornado and toxic spill; we have plans in place for that. I cannot lead them from an active shooter," Thweatt said. "There are people who are going to think this is extreme, but it's easy to defend."

Judy Priz, who has a third-grade daughter, said that "everyone I've talked to thinks it's great." She said she trusts the teachers with her child's life.
"Look how long it takes the police or anybody else to get here," she told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for a story in its Monday online edition. "If someone wants to come here and harm someone, at least we would have sort of defense."

Gov. Rick Perry has said he supports the policy because "there's a lot of incidents where that would have saved a number of lives."

The Brady Center has spoken out against the plan, saying it may not comply with Texas law, which bans firearms at schools unless carriers have given written permission. If the school board authorizes an employee to carry a gun, then that person must be a peace officer, according to the center.

"It's unfair of us to ask teachers to take on the additional job of being police officers," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign.

Cheryl Mehl, an attorney for the Harrold school district, said the statute the Brady Center cites applies only to security guards, not teachers and other employees. The district has no security guards.

I'm not sure as of right now where I stand in terms of agreeing or disagreeing with the plan put in place by this school but I will try to weigh in once I have pondered more. Your thoughts?

pennies, high school musical, and the right stuff

so it seems like i'm never quite in the right place at the right time. the other day, my sister and I were at the Mall of America, doing some wedding shoe shopping (no, not for me...in case you were unaware, that's already been taken care of. They were shoes for her.) and we happened upon a large crowd of screaming young teens, surrounding what appeared to be a giant yellow box. This caught our interest so we stopped to see what the fuss was all about. It turns out that Office Depot was doing some sort of promotion/event that had to do with two million pennies (apparently contained in the giant yellow box). This didn't seem all that exciting so we weren't sure what everyone was so jazzed about. As it happens, they weren't excited about pennies, they were excited about Vanessa Hudgens who was there to unveil the box and then sign autographs. That we saw.

What we (I) didn't see was a New Kids on the Block performance. I finished work at 4 and on my way out, saw a stage and what appeared to be all the trappings of a performance soon to be happening. So I waited for awhile, thinking it would be cool if it happened around 4:30 or so (the crowds seemed to indicate that it would be sooner, rather than later). However, I soon found out that they weren't going to appear until 5:30 and decided that I just couldn't wait that long. So I went home.

I guess it could be argued that missing the second happening was my own fault, since I chose to leave but I will say that I would much rather have stumbled upon NKOTB than Vanessa Hudgens (no offense to those of you who are rabid fans...).

However, it was the first time I saw a famous person at the Mall of America so it seems that my working there for the past month or so has become worth it after all.

or something like that...