An article published by www.usnews.com, titled We Can’t Arrest Our Way to Safer Schools, argues the use of police officers in schools and has deemed them unnecessary in the war on school violence; this article could not be more incorrect. The use of police officers in schools is meant to cut down the violence in the school; having an authority figure present helps deter violence or any other threatening situation from occurring. The overall fear of placing police students should be easily swayed… if a person does nothing wrong, there is nothing to fear.
The National Rifle Association recently recommended placing police officers or other armed guards in every school. This recommendation spurs idea of having an armed guard readily available in case a student or an intruder were to enter the building and try to harm another individual. The armed guard would then need to spring into action and help correct the situation, in the most peaceful way possible.
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The idea of placing an armed guard in a school, in the event of a hazardous situation, has become so favored to the point where the White House has proposed an increase in police officers based in schools everywhere. A study done by the University of Chicago found examples of police officers who set out to actively build relationships with the students attending the schools they guarded, in these schools, violence had shown a significant drop in occurrence. In many cases, all the officers would have to do is talk to the student and try to help them work through the problem, like any good police officer would. With this being said, the officers still needed to carry a weapon on the off chance a student or intruder were to bring a weapon into school.
In some school systems, such as the Memphis City School System, children are not arrested; but instead, made to do activities which will not interfere with their schooling. This is great, an example of how police and the community they protect worked together to stop the overcrowding of jails. Students need to learn the sometimes costly error of their ways in regards to inappropriate behavior.
By no means should police arrest all rule breakers; however there are cases where an arrest is warranted. Fighting for example, an act where another living being is injured should be grounds for an arrest. The motto of “kids will be kids” does not apply anymore. Kids being kids lead to victims bringing guns to school to try to kill other people. Bullies have hurt many people, while kids should be taught to stand up to those bullies; some decide to bring guns to schools to permanently eliminate the threat.
Using guns to solve problems is the coward’s way out; however, there are certain circumstances where using a gun is necessary. These situations usually revolve around the idea of self defense, never to inflict pain on someone else. Unfortunately, this idea is forgotten or ignored by some people in society. Ignorance to this idea leads to people trying to hurt others. Having an armed guard in public areas helps deter this way of hurting others.
In the usnews.com article, the writer immediately mentions a child who is handcuffed to a chair as a punishment after the child fought another student in the school. The writer tried illustrate the point of the police officer going too far, being unnecessarily brutal. If this child were to start a fight with an individual, as an adult, he would not only be handcuffed but would also be arrested. This police officer’s actions of placing handcuffs on the child to illustrate the point to never fight someone were appropriate. This action illustrates the point of how these actions are not to be tolerated.
The writer then tells the reader to talk to one of the 3.3 million public school children who receive a suspension each year for “minor” violations such as fist fights or arguing with teachers. Knowing a bully, who hurt a child, is suspended would comfort any parent debating letting their child go to school after a known altercation. Suspending problem students is not an action worthy of reprimand. The suspension took place to help keep the school safe.
School systems use police officers as a deterrent, hoping to never use the officers. Unfortunately, a few bad apples can spoil the bunch. Because a few people in society cannot be trusted, police officers will have to be ever vigilant and will need to be placed in schools. The physical deterrent alone could potentially save thousands of lives, something by which may not be able to be measure in a graph or statistic; however, the deterrent does its job all the same.
No one wants to have police officers in schools and some people may even feel as though their rights are being violated; but, this isn’t the case, this isn’t even what the purpose of police officers in schools is supposed to be. The police officer in a school is nothing more than a physical deterrent. Students should be able to see the deterrent and decide to not do anything wrong. However, the problem lies with students who do not see the officer as a deterrent and instead, a violation of rights. So, the student decides to act out or fight someone. If a fight broke out, most people would want a police officer to end it.
Police officers in school systems create opportunities. Opportunities for a student to go to school and not be afraid, or for teachers to not have to fear a child bringing a gun to school, because they know, a police officer is close by and will help resolve any issue which may arise. Police officers are public servants sworn to protect and serve.
- Eckholm, Erik. “With Police in Schools, More Children in Court.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. http://www.nytimes.com
- Gumbrecht, Jamie. “What really makes schools safer?.” CNN. Cable News Network, 13 Dec. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. http://www.cnn.com
- “We Can’t Arrest Our Way to Safer Schools.” US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. http://www.usnews.com
