7年级的女儿作为学校报刊的小记者就佛罗里达校园枪击案采访了老师和同学。 下面她的报导。
我最为赞赏的一点是：作为记者，她在抛出问题以后，基本比较彻底地把自己隐去，忠实地陈述了被采访对象的观点。同时，思路清晰地组织材料，让我们了解有过使用枪支经验的同学和没有这样经验的同学反应不同， 老师即使同意携带枪支，但他们对持枪所带来的责任程度有待界定。
我们看到无数的访谈和采访报导，我最为不喜欢地就是看到主持人总是喜欢显示自己的才智，有的甚至表现出对被采访者的不屑。
Should Teachers Be Armed with Guns? 是否应该给老师配枪？
By: Grace Cai
Students would go school to learn and to socialize. They’d never thought that their safety would be jeopardized and their school would be terrorized by a ruthless shooter.
Imagine that a shooter rampages your school and you are running for your life in fear, thinking of the last words you said to your parents as you sprint out the door. This,, unfortunately, is a problem that more and more students face as homicidal shooters start targeting schools more often.
What if your teacher had a gun in the classroom and could fend off the shooter and keep you safe? Would you feel safe and secure or would you be terrified of knowing that a gun is in your teacher’s hands? Did the shooter dare to fire at students at school if he knew teachers were armed with guns?
Our president, Donald J. Trump, and the Republicans have recently proposed to arm teachers with guns after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018. Trump tweeted, “Must be offensive, defense alone won’t work!”.
The shooting at the high school in Parkland, Florida was a wake-up call for the whole country. 17 people were killed and many others injured. If the teachers had guns, would they have survived?
Florida’s State Senate is already supporting the idea of arming teachers but their governor, Rick Scott, was opposed to the notion. The State Senate later changed the bill to read that up to 10 school personnel would be trained to carry weapons in all schools instead of arming most teachers to get Governor Scott to signed the bill. He then signed the bill.
Since the Sandy Hook school shooting at the end of 2012, where twenty first-grade children and eight others were killed, including the perpetrator, over 400 people have been shot at about 200 school shootings. If teachers had guns, they might make the school safer, on the other hand, they could cause other problems.
Many teachers and students wouldn’t be comfortable with a gun in the classroom, especially if they need to fire it in the event of an attack when they are in panic. Kiana, a seventh grade student at Blach who has used a gun, mentioned that, “Shooting a gun and aiming correctly is a really hard thing to do and especially in the situation where lives are at risk. There would be an almost 0% chance of shooting it correctly.”
Blach’s vice principal and history teacher, Mr. Dewberry, states “I would not be comfortable having a gun on campus”. Guns are fatal weapons and they would not only frighten the teachers, but also the students in a classroom. School should be a place where you come to learn and have fun, not a place that would terrify you from attending. Mrs. Hickman, a seventh-grade English teacher at Blach, commented, “Weapons and schools don’t mix.”
“Personally, only because I have been around guns, I would feel more secure. But I think that most other students would feel scared.”says Kiana Z.
Students who have seen or used a gun would not react strongly and would probably feel secure knowing that if there was a shooter, their teacher would be able to defend them. On the contrary, students who haven’t ever seen let alone use a gun would probably be scared to death, being aware that such a dangerous weapon is in their classroom.
Teachers are trained to teach and protect their students, not to fire a gun at a person. Mrs. Narula, Blach’s principal said, “In order to protect your students, you should be trained in emergency procedures and you should be active and cooperative in any drill.” Mr. Dewberry also indicated that, “If you are gonna arm teachers, they would be trained teachers, not military professionals.”
When asked if she would risk her life for her students, Mrs. Hickman answered, “Yes, I would, but not by using a gun. Using a gun doesn’t seem like a good solution.”