Guns in schools warrant robust debate
There is a valid discussion to be had on the army bringing guns into schools, but we’ve yet to hear from the voices that really matter.
It’s the parents and educators of our children who need to be shaping the debate, not just politicians with a predilection for hyperbole.
Education Minister Nikki Kaye this week signalled moves to stop the military taking weapons into primary schools, following a leadership course at Whakarongo School in Manawatu, where the army did exactly that. It was the first visit for the fledgling programme, and may prove to be the last.
Kaye wants clear guidelines on guns in schools, which seems sensible. If such exercises have a place, it is as part of a curriculum with a precise purpose, not as a casual arrangement between the Defence Force and schools.
But she has already suggested these army lessons are beyond the pale, and this is before parents, principals and teachers have had their say.
When we reported on the Whakarongo School visit in April, there was lively debate among readers on whether they thought kids learning to use assault rifles as part of the leadership session was appropriate. Online comments and poll results favoured the activity, and several hostile barbs were cast in our direction, claiming we were trying to manufacture a controversy.
We never said the army taking guns to school was a bad thing, but did pose the question.
The images of children in school uniform aiming assault rifles were confronting, perhaps informed by the countless images we’ve seen of horrific school shootings in other countries, and the awareness that assault rifles exist to kill human beings or elicit security through the threat of lethal force.
What awareness did these children have? At 9 or 10 years old, what awareness should they have?
While the question we asked has now been validated in Parliament, the political reaction has been just as embellished as the initial rhetoric on social media. Green Party education spokeswoman Catherine Delahunty has called the school visit military propaganda, the sort of comment that will see her instantly dismissed as a paranoid Leftie by two-thirds of the population.
We welcome the education minister rekindling the discussion, and recommending a safety catch.
But we also need to listen to those at the school gates.