At first, I thought this reaction was a joke... but as the days go on, I am seeing more and more people referring to the fact that we should arm teachers and put more guns into the schools. I can't believe that there are so many people (outside of Texas) thinking that this is the way to handle and fix the tragedy that happened in Newtown.

1) Six hours of training does not a shooter make.
2) Six hundred hours of training still may not do the trick. (Shooting is as much mental as it is mechanical.)
3) This is mitigation. It still misses the aim of better prevention (...if that's even possible, the pessimistic side of the little devil/angel duo in my head would say).
4) I'm heartbroken more each day right now for those 20+ families, but we don't know yet all the details of the lead-up to the incident and if there is any corrective action to take (the fix).
5) Despite all of this, I completely understand the tug and pull to do *something* now, but this doesn't do it for me....

I still say if there is a stipend, sign me up. I will be the secret stealth agent protecting my campus. But seriously, I can't believe, that you don't believe something like this was going to happen. People are not thinking rationally, we just go from extreme to extreme with no middle ground.

I so appreciate you both sharing your valued insight.
Rachel, yes, I agree with you completely. Our society can not ignore what has happened, we need to do "something" because the loss of these 26 precious lives should simply not have ever happened. This type of violence... so much violence that is becoming to common in daily life has to come to an end. Maybe, we need to become hyper sensitive as a society, and not let this seep into our culture. I look at the Mid East, for example, where extreme violence has become accepted as a possible daily occurrence that can happen any time, without warning. Now, we need to consciously fight that mentality.
But, as Jon says ,too many are NOT thinking rationally-but, as educators, we must!.

I would be more dangerous to kids and myself than an intruder. I've had CPR/First Aid training multiple times over the years. With many hours of practice, I'm still unconvinced I could actually save a life. I'd like teachers to focus on those skills instead of learning to kill someone.

I completely agree. I think as teachers we already have a tough job to deal with. I am in my 18th year of teaching, and I still worry about just being effective, now you want to throw gun play in the mix? CPR and First Aid have saved a life in our school district at a football game. I would rather go that way, save a life, rather than taking a life. I will leave that to the officers who are trained. I don't want an officer coming in to teach my class, and I am sure they don't want me trying to diffuse a hostage situation.

I don't think arming teachers is the answer. I also don't think this is such a common occurrence that should merit any drastic measures to ensure the safety of our schools. There are a lot of other issues at play here. That said, there are steps that can be taken to help prevent senseless violence in our schools.

As a gun owner myself, I struggle with this. While I don't carry a gun on my person, I do see why some people choose to do so (legally).

But yes, for the time being, please keep guns out of our classrooms.