Archives for category: Guns in Schools
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A Time for Action Against Gun Violence in Schools!

By dianeravitch
February 17, 2018 //
26

Students!

Parents! Grandparents!

Teachers! Principals! School board members! Staff!

Friends!

Citizens!

Organize now for a national action against gun violence on April 20!

Take the pledge to participate in the action!

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/national-day-of-action-against-gun-violence-in-schools

Join the National Day for Action to Protect Students and Schools from Gun Violence!

No more murders in schools!

Students, teachers, parents, families, members of the community—join together, and you decide what works best in your community. Walk out, strike, sit-in, teach-in, protest, demonstrate, encircle the school with linked arms, March to your legislators’ offices. Be creative. Let your legislators and other elected officials know: It is time to act now to protect students, staff and schools.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. But they change nothing. What’s needed now is legislation to stop the carnage. Weapons of war belong in the hands of trained military and police, not civilians, not children.

This action is sponsored by the Network for Public Education, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, the BATS, and many more organizations that care about the safety of our children and our educators.

Please take the pledge to join this national action on April 20. 

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/national-day-of-action-against-gun-violence-in-schools

If your organization wants to sign on as a sponsor of the National Day of Action to Protect Our Students and Schools, please contact Carol Burris of the Network for Public Education.

Cburris@networkforpubliceducation.org

David Berliner shook everyone out of their lethargy and state of shock by proposing a national teachers’ strike. Many people loved the idea, but more than a few teachers pointed out that they would be fired if they went out on strike. Lots of people came up with alternatives. Some wanted to exclude elementary schools, but they too have suffered from gun violence. Some wanted actions that took place when school was not in session, but that was like holding a strike on weekends.  It quickly became clear that we would get nowhere if we tried to settle on one plan that was acceptable to everyone. In the end, those of us who wanted action realized that communities should crowdsource their protests and coordinate locally. There was no good reason to impose a one-size-fits-all plan on everyone.

And so we turn to you to do what is most effective for your schoool and your community. But make it loud and bold!

What matters most is to organize, plan, raise your voices, and make sure your legislators hear you.

Don’t settle for thoughts and prayers. Don’t settle for bland promises about mental health services (that are being cut). We need real change. We need to learn from nations that don’t tolerate gun violence. In the five years since the massacre of first graders and staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, there have been “at least 239 school shootings nationwide. In those episodes, 438 people were shot, 138 of whom were killed.” (New York Times) The slaughter of children must stop!

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Guns in Schools, Network for Public Education, Networkfor Public Education Action Fund

David Berliner Calls for a National Teachers’ Strike on May Day to Demand Sensible Gun Laws

By dianeravitch
February 14, 2018 //
294

 

David Berliner issued the following call for a national teachers’ strike on May 1. Teachers are now first responders, trained to protect their students if a shooter gets in the building. Some have given their lives for their students. Parents should join teachers. Enough is enough.

Berliner writes:

”It is way past time. Between now and May 1st teachers have to agree on the gun legislation they want. They can consult with Giffords and Kelly, and others who have suffered, such as the parents who have already lost children to this horrible characteristic of our culture. If by May 1st they have not received assurance that their legislation for sanity in gun ownership will be acted on soon, they need to walk out of our schools. It would be May Day, when workers should exert their strength.

“Our country’s legislators, and the voters who send them to make our laws, can then choose: Teachers and (most) parents for sane gun laws, or, the NRA that provides our legislators money to avoid making the laws that could reduce the carnage we see too frequently.

“Almost all of America’s 3 million teachers— nurturers and guardians of our youth– want sensible gun laws. They deserve that. But they have to be ready to exert the power they have by walking out of their schools if they do not get what they want. They have to exert the reputational power that 3 million of our most admired voters have. Neither the NRA nor their legislative puppets will be able stand up to that. My advice is to start meeting now, write model legislation, submit it to state and federal legislators, and if rebuffed, close down our schools until you get what you (and the rest of us) deserve.”

Save our children.

 

PS: There is no link. He sent this message to me. We are in despair.

Categories Guns in Schools

Another School Shooting, This Time in Florida

By dianeravitch
February 14, 2018 //
82

 

Terrible. Terrible. A school is a place of learning. It should always be a safe space.

Politicians should please stop with the “thoughts and prayers.”

If they oppose sensible regulation of firearms, they should have the decency to shut up.

Any sociopath or psychopath can easily get a weapon of mass death.

The NRA is evil.

Categories Guns in Schools

Twelve Seconds of Gunfire on a Playground in South Carolina

By dianeravitch
June 29, 2017 //
64

This is a heartbreaking story.

A young man appeared at a playground in Townsville, South Carolina, where first-graders were playing. He opened fire. A child died. The shooter, it turned out, was not a man. He was 14 years old. He stopped when his gun jammed. He was captured.

There are states and cities that think the answer to school shootings is to arm teachers. Given the speed of this shooting, no one could have stopped it. Twelve seconds. The teachers, if they were armed, could have shot him, but the child would still be dead.

This is madness.

Categories Guns in Schools, South Carolina

Texas: AR-15 Assault Weapon Will Be Raffle Prize for School Charity

By dianeravitch
April 20, 2017 //
62

The New Caney school district in Texas is holding a raffle to raise money for Project Graduation. One of the prizes is an AR-15 assault rifle.

This is the same weapon that has been used in numerous massacres, including the massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and the Orlando nightclub massacre.

The owner of the gun said he would do a background check before releasing the weapon to the winner.

Tickets are $10 each.

Categories Guns in Schools

DeVos: Schools May Need Guns to Protect Against Grizzly Bears

By dianeravitch
January 18, 2017 //
33

Betsy DeVos was questioned about whether she would maintain gun-free zones around schools. She said that should be left to states. She was questioned by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook massacre occurred in Newtown. DeVos said that some schools might need guns to protect against grizzly bears. She also said she would do whatever Trump wanted on the issue. She expressed sympathy for anyone killed by guns.

 

A group called States United tweeted:

 

“U.S. school shootings since 2013: 210. Grizzly bear attacks at American schools since 2013: 0. #DeVosHearing…”

 

Crooks and Liars said she “waffled,” as she did with most questions. 

Categories Betsy DeVos, Education Reform, Guns in Schools

Wyoming School Mentioned by DeVos Has Grizzlies, But No Guns

By dianeravitch
January 18, 2017 //
4

When asked about whether there should be gun-free zones around schools, Betsy DeVos dodged and said some schools might need a gun. She gave the example of a Wyoming school that needs protection from grizzly bears.

 

School officials in Wyoming at the district in question said the school has strong fences but no guns are allowed. The school has 10 students and was quite surprised to be the center of national attention.

 

“(CNN)The superintendent for a rural Wyoming school cited by education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos in Tuesday’s Senate confirmation hearing says they have no guns for grizzly bear at Wapiti School.

 

“Ray Schulte, superintendent for Park County School District No. 6, told CNN Wednesday he was at the school board meeting Tuesday night when he got word one of their local school had been mentioned by DeVos.

 

“I noticed the gal mentioned Wapiti School,” he said.

 

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who represents Sandy Hook, the site of the 2012 school shooting, had asked DeVos if she believed guns have “any place in and around schools.”
Citing grizzlies, Betsy DeVos says states should determine school gun policies

 

“I think that is best left to locales and states to decide,” she said.

 

After Murphy pushed DeVos, she brought up a story Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi told about a school with has fences around it to protect against grizzly bears.

 

“I will refer back to Sen. Enzi and the school he is talking about in Wyoming. I think probably there, I would imagine there is probably a gun in a school to protect from potential grizzlies,” she said.
Schulte said it’s against state law to have guns at school.
“We do not allow weapons on school property,” he said.

 

 

 

Wyoming school district cited by DeVos: Grizzlies, yes; guns, no
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/18/politics/betsy-devos/index.html

Categories Betsy DeVos, Education Reform, Guns in Schools

Hot Sales for Bulletproof Armor for Children

By dianeravitch
June 30, 2014 //
27

I wish this were a joke but it is not.

The manufacturer of body armor for children has reported high sales to parents and schools concerned about school shootings.

“The alarming rate of school shootings across the country appears to have added an unsettling new item to parents’ list of “back to school” items: bulletproof armor for their children. Among such items, the Bodyguard Blanket, a portable, bulletproof covering for children, has seen its sales exceed its manufacturer’s expectations in less than two weeks on the market….As reported first in the Oklahoman, the blanket was conceived to protect children during natural disasters. The blanket is made “with the same bullet resistant materials that shield our soldiers in battle,” according to one advertisement. In the event of a tornado — or shooting — children can wrap themselves in the blanket in a duck-and-cover position to shield from bullets, debris or other projectiles.”

At $1,000 each, the Bodyguard Blanket is not likely to fly off the shelves. But its very existence indicates a bizarre acceptance of the intolerable and the unthinkable. A saner society would enact laws to restrict access to weapons.

Categories Childhood, Pre-K, K, Guns in Schools

Should Teachers Be Armed?

By dianeravitch
March 1, 2013 //
22

I must begin by saying this is satire.

If I don’t, some readers will take it seriously.

It was written by Paul Karrer, an elementary teacher in California.

He is responding to the demand from some quarters that teachers should be armed.

Read here and see what Paul thinks.

Categories Guns in Schools, Humor

Snopes Deconstructs the Sandy Hook Truther Hoax

By dianeravitch
January 24, 2013 //
38

Soon after the tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, conspiracy theorists began to claim that the events of that morning were an elaborate hoax.

The conspiracy story was debunked here by Snopes.

We are expected to believe that hundreds of people–parents, townspeople, police, and media, as well as the President–collaborated to stage this “hoax.” Everyone you saw on television, say the conspiracy theorists, was a “crisis actor,” paid to play a part. The media didn’t notice. Allegedly the entire town of Newtown, Connecticut, is akin to “The Truman Show,” where everyone is a paid actor.

This blog received letters that asked questions like “Did you see Adam Lanza’s body? Did you see the bodies of the children?” That was supposedly “evidence” that the massacre was staged as a way to take away the rights of gun owners. Just yesterday, I deleted comments that made the same assertions. Let me be clear: I will not post any letters claiming that the Sandy Hook massacre was a staged event. I will delete them because they are conspiracy trash.

What accounts for this paranoia?

Categories Connecticut, Guns in Schools
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