Should teachers be armed in classrooms?

Student’s Name: Professor’s Name: Class: Course: Date of Submission: Should teachers be armed in classrooms? The discussion regarding arming teachers with firearms is a highly contentious topic touching on various sectors such as security, education, and the government specifically the policy makers (Schildkraut & Martindale, 2022). Such a controversial issue attracts different opinions from various quarters. The multiple sides in the discussion include the proponents, opponents, the neutral, and those taking no sides. In a nutshell, arming teachers in schools can be a good thing, but can also result in other foreseen and unforeseen issues. On one side, those supporting the idea of arming teachers would argue that doing so would enhance the safety of the teachers and that of the learners as the teachers will be able to swiftly respond to security threats that have become rampant in schools (Schildkraut & Martindale, 2022). On the other hand, the opposers of this contentious topic would argue that it could be a source of hazard to many individuals. Arming teachers can result in firearm accidents, increased violence, and increased tension in the learning environment which will negatively affect learning. Just maybe it would be a good question to ask, when did the rain beat us? Can we trace when and why we are debating about arming our teachers? As we focus on the safety of learners and everyone else, we also usually overlook the role of the teachers and their safety. Teachers face unique challenges, and security threats are just one of the many issues faced by teachers. Certainly, we need evidence in arguing this topic, and the most common form of evidence is research, specifically on the statistics and data. Fire-arm-related issues in the United States of America are not only a public health issue but an issue that is almost getting out of hand. Deaths or mortality rates associated with firearms are alarming. Deaths resulting from firearms are the number one cause of child deaths in the US exceeding the combined death cases from causes such as cardiovascular disease, congenital issues, upper and lower respiratory infections, and cerebrovascular diseases (Martindale & Schildkraut, 2022). Specifically, fire-arm-related deaths amount to approximately 40,000 yearly in the United States (Martindale & Schildkraut, 2022). Additionally, it is responsible for over 100,000 injuries yearly (Martindale & Schildkraut, 2022). The statistics allude that the probability of a school-going child dying as a result of firearm injury is higher than that of any other cause. Doing a comparison between the developed and developing countries regarding the issue of firearms paints a grim picture since the discrepancy is so high, hence the focus. Children between 5-14 years are 21 times more likely to die as a result of firearm injury compared to children of the same age bracket in developing countries (Martindale & Schildkraut, 2022). On the other hand, the likelihood of children in developed countries between 15-24 years dying from firearm injuries is 23 times higher compared to those of the same age in developing countries. Looking back to the between 2012 to 2014, it is clear that the statistics of injuries and deaths were lowered to the current sta...