Brainstorming Solutions

Brainstorming solutions that everybody will be happy with or everybody will be triggered by...

Legalize and regulate drugs, particularly weed with the proposal to have a security tax with no sunset latched onto the proposal. The security tax would be allocated to every school for the soul purpose of creating a security infrastructure within the school. The school board can then provide a security detail from a private company with approved training and credentials or request police details to be used. (many schools have a daily police presence already and many departments would be able to then focus manpower away from drugs at that time.) I personally like the idea of a private security team that can be a permanent fixture in the school with no other outside authority other than protection. I believe this would make the team more comfortable with the students than a revolving door of officers and better able to read and understand when a student may be acting out of place or troubled. Students may also feel more comfortable talking to and informing security personnel that do not have a law enforcement function.

I have retrieved my flame suit from the closet, please discuss...

All of that may work.
It may not.


Getting everyone to agree with you is the problem.

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, there were about 90,000 elementary schools operating in the United States between 2013 and 2014.

An estimated 13% of adults in the US smoke weed according to a few surveys. That comes out to around 30 million. I doubt 13% smoke it regularly though, I'd assume that number is significantly less. And if legalized, I don't think it'd be too much higher than 15% of US adults.

Let's assume that a security group/program at a school costs $500k per year. We are looking at $45 Billion in elementary schools alone. That is assuming that every school needs $500k. I would think some will need significantly more, and some less.

With those numbers, every weed smoker in the US would need to pay $1500 in taxes annually in order to fund the idea.

So that won't happen.

That's reason A that I don't like the idea.

Reason B: Legalizing drugs is not a good idea for a plethora of reasons. Everyone has polarized views on legalizing drugs, but my stance is a very firm no (personal opinion based on a multitude of facts).

I think part of the solution to the problem can be to let teachers carry weapons at schools if they have received training. You now have people who you are already paying to be there with the means to defend themselves. Further, teachers generally like kids and would be motivated to protect them. Sure, some won't, but I think many would.

Next, schools need to have emergency supplies throughout the school and teach the teachers how to use them. Simply having TQs and means to stop bleeding could save a ton of students.

Lastly, an easy quick fix that my former high school has since implemented: All interior doors are always locked. The only way to open a classroom door or any interior door is with a key, and it locks upon closing. If someone wants to go around and shoot up a school, they then have to get through a bunch of locked doors. Add to that enhanced security at entry points and you have made a school significantly more difficult to have easy mass casualties at.

People will always find a way to do things if they want, but by adding a few simple security measures and having a ton of people who can shoot back, I think people will be less motivated to shoot up schools.

AustinBR said:

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, there were about 90,000 elementary schools operating in the United States between 2013 and 2014.

An estimated 13% of adults in the US smoke weed according to a few surveys. That comes out to around 30 million. I doubt 13% smoke it regularly though, I'd assume that number is significantly less. And if legalized, I don't think it'd be too much higher than 15% of US adults.

Let's assume that a security group/program at a school costs $500k per year. We are looking at $45 Billion in elementary schools alone. That is assuming that every school needs $500k. I would think some will need significantly more, and some less.

With those numbers, every weed smoker in the US would need to pay $1500 in taxes annually in order to fund the idea.

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That is a great point and well taken. What about re-routing some of the un-goldly amount of funding spent on the current war on drugs? (That wouldn't be fully needed after legalization, theoretically)

I'm also torn on the CCW for teachers. In theory I love the idea, then I think of all the liveleak videos I watch with students attacking teachers and gives me pause. It may be the best solution, I just see some potential issues as well.

UnseenUSPCompact said:

That is a great point and well taken. What about re-routing some of the un-goldly amount of funding spent on the current war on drugs? (That wouldn't be fully needed after legalization, theoretically)

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True, but then they would need to reroute it towards all of the problems that will arise from more and more people being drugged up all the time.

UnseenUSPCompact said:

I'm also torn on the CCW for teachers. In theory I love the idea, then I think of all the liveleak videos I watch with students attacking teachers and gives me pause. It may be the best solution, I just see some potential issues as well.

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Maybe students shouldn't do that. If they attack a teacher and get shot, well, it seems they picked thr wrong teacher to attack. I have gone through 12 years of middle school, 4 years of college, and 2 of grad school, and I managed to never attack a teacher or be attacked by a teacher. It's crazy. I'm not really sure how I did it. Also, none of my classmates ever attacked the teacher either. A few guys got hit by a coach, but it was well deserved and likely a lot less than their parents would have done.

AustinBR said:

Maybe students shouldn't do that. If they attack a teacher and get shot, well, it seems they picked thr wrong teacher to attack.

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I'm more worried about the weapon being taken from the teacher and used against them. I was 240lbs in HS, there wasn't many of my female teachers I wouldn't have been able to get a gun from if I was a bad person.

AustinBR said:

Maybe students shouldn't do that. If they attack a teacher and get shot, well, it seems they picked thr wrong teacher to attack. I have gone through 12 years of middle school, 4 years of college, and 2 of grad school, and I managed to never attack a teacher or be attacked by a teacher. It's crazy. I'm not really sure how I did it. Also, none of my classmates ever attacked the teacher either. A few guys got hit by a coach, but it was well deserved and likely a lot less than their parents would have done.

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You prob also never witness a mass shooting either, which is where all the fun statistics come in and tell us that we really arnt in that much danger to begin with.

UnseenUSPCompact said:

I'm more worried about the weapon being taken from the teacher and used against them. I was 240lbs in HS, there wasn't many of my female teachers I wouldn't have been able to get a gun from if I was a bad person.

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I saw somewhere that one district had lockboxes in each class bolted down, every class had them so nobody knew which teachers were armed or not. I'm sure the majority of teachers have no interest, but I bet theres one or two in every school willing and able to learn, it's a shame they can't.

topgunz1 said:

I saw somewhere that one district had lockboxes in each class bolted down, every class had them so nobody knew which teachers were armed or not. I'm sure the majority of teachers have no interest, but I bet theres one or two in every school willing and able to learn, it's a shame they can't.

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This isn't a bad idea either. The teachers themselves can volunteer to be their own security team with the lock boxes as you have suggested. The tax money could in that case pay for the selected teachers to have situational and firearm training once a month, once every six months or whatever funding allows.

That is the point of the post, I think that there can be several different variations of the basic concept I am presenting that could work and be helpful. Hell, give the teachers that volunteer a pay increase, that would be less than having full time security and would fill the personal contact roll even better.

UnseenUSPCompact said:

I'm also torn on the CCW for teachers. In theory I love the idea, then I think of all the liveleak videos I watch with students attacking teachers and gives me pause. It may be the best solution, I just see some potential issues as well.

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The students may be less inclined to attack a teacher if they believe the teacher may be better able to protect themselves against great bodily harm and/or death.

AustinBR said:

I have gone through 12 years of middle school, 4 years of college, and 2 of grad school...

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That must have been a difficult middle school.

thperez1972 said:

That must have been a difficult middle school.

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LOL, I was waiting for someone to mention that. I lumped K to 12 into one category.

UnseenUSPCompact said:

This isn't a bad idea either. The teachers themselves can volunteer to be their own security team with the lock boxes as you have suggested. The tax money could in that case pay for the selected teachers to have situational and firearm training once a month, once every six months or whatever funding allows.

That is the point of the post, I think that there can be several different variations of the basic concept I am presenting that could work and be helpful. Hell, give the teachers that volunteer a pay increase, that would be less than having full time security and would fill the personal contact roll even better.

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I think the basic idea isn't a bad one but I think there may be issues when using a "vice" to fund stuff. Worst case, everyone gets better and there is no money for the program. How would it look if a mass shooting were preventable only if more people would have shot up heroin?

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AustinBR said:

LOL, I was waiting for someone to mention that. I lumped K to 12 into one category.

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I figured as much. I think it was my 3rd read through before I caught it.

thperez1972 said:

I think the basic idea isn't a bad one but I think there may be issues when using a "vice" to fund stuff. Worst case, everyone gets better and there is no money for the program. How would it look if a mass shooting were preventable only if more people would have shot up heroin?

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I figured as much. I think it was my 3rd read through before I caught it.

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I'm simply of the mindset that the police and government should spend more time protecting us from others and not so much ourselves, but that is a different road all together. I think we can all agree that weed will be legal eventually. It may be a year and it may be 10 years from now, but it will happen. Why be late to the game when you can use it for good and eventually show some good will and take ammunition away from the people that would like to make firearms illegal. We also tax Vices all the time.

UnseenUSPCompact said:

I'm simply of the mindset that the police and government should spend more time protecting us from others and not so much ourselves, but that is a different road all together. I think we can all agree that weed will be legal eventually. It may be a year and it may be 10 years from now, but it will happen. Why be late to the game when you can use it for good and eventually show some good will and take ammunition away from the people that would like to make firearms illegal. We also tax Vices all the time.

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I agree. I work in law enforcement and have arrested a number of people for drug usage. I personally believe drug addiction should be a health issue rather than a legal issue. And I realize we currently tax vices. Tobacco is a big one. I think the federal taxes go to insurance for children. I'm not sure where the state taxes go. I've always had the opinion the monies from addictive vices, like tobacco, should go to treating people with that addiction.

But I am for more armed persons in schools, be it teachers or security, in conjunction with other security measures. When seconds count, the police are minutes away. I believe a program like armed security in schools should be funded by a consistent source.