Misguided, dangerous

I recently attended the March Little Rock School District Community Advisory Board meeting where a plan was discussed for arming current security personnel working for the school district. The plan is to arm at least four security patrol officers, along with other security officers, to the tune of $50,000 for the first year, $15,000 every year after.

As a future parent of Little Rock School District, I find this plan to be incredibly misguided and potentially dangerous to the students. What is problematic to me is that the purpose of these patrol officers is primarily to deal with “disturbances” from students, such as a fight on the bus. There is no reason to add a gun to that sort of situation. Not only could it be a safety issue if there is an accident, but it adds an emotional weight to any interaction that can instantly escalate that situation. Why would we want to have even the slightest chance of that happening with our students?

While the intention is to make students feel safe, I believe by arming security officers you are also telling students that they are dangerous and are suspects. You are effectively telling them they are criminals before they have ever committed a crime. So instead of spending $50,000 on guns and training, why not spend that money on community and counseling services? Not only will this allow us to deal with many of the root issues that cause active shooters in the first place but I can guarantee they will also help cut down the number of “disturbances” that security officers have to respond to as well. SAM GRUBB Little Rock