We need serious firearms education for kids and educators, IMO

[Freelancer]

Last edited Thu Feb 15, 2018, 03:04 AM - Edit history (1)

We stepped up decades ago and admitted that the information kids were getting about sex from home was largely inaccurate, or absent altogether. We did something about that through education. It was an uncomfortable decision that's still being argued today, but it was the right decision, IMO.

Once again, we need to face facts and step-up. Even though we desperately don't want to go there, we need to seriously educate kids in regard to firearms. They need to know what counts as cover if bullets are flying. They need to know that sheetrock won't protect them. Neither will cowering behind a chair, or even a teacher, save them in most instances. They need to know that if they must run, to wait until a reload commences, how to deal with a wound. And so on and on.

It's a terrible step to have to take, but we have to provide quality training to enhance survival of our children and their educators -- especially since no end to this ongoing, lurching massacre is in sight.

[sharedvalues]

1. Yup: educate: how to lobby for a handgun ban.

If we want to stop school shootings we can do what Canada does:
Ban handguns
Ban most semi autos

Allow hunting rifles.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210232546

[Freelancer]

2. This is U.S.A. and guns. What does logic have to do with it?

I'd be happy with Canada's solution.

Hell, I may be in hiding in Canada in a year. Who knows?

[onecaliberal]

3. We need to address the availability of guns and high capacity magazines and healthcare .

We don’t need guns in school or gun education in school.

[Freelancer]

4. Surely, the "one life saved" rule applies here...

If just one life were saved by teaching children about the things I mentioned, we need to do it -- not as a replacement for strong gun control, but in addition to it.

[onecaliberal]

5. This will NEVER fly. Just saying. Lots of things to do to save lives before that.

Not sure how long it’s been since you’ve been in a public school classroom.

[Freelancer]

7. Why leave an obvious step as a last resort?

Why won't it fly? One afternoon per class would be a huge help, and law enforcement could combine it into their community outreach.

[Phoenix61]

9. So his classmates knew he was a problem

They said if anyone was ever going to shoot up the school it would be him. They know how to identify the perpetrator they have no way of stopping him. They told school administrators and they banned him from campus. The reality is guns kill people and until we are willing to admit that and deal with that this will continue to happen.

[onecaliberal]

23. So much this. The common thing is always the gun. The guns need to go.

[onecaliberal]

11. Go to a school and youll get it. For one thing there is ALOT of content

And standards for core A-G, and AP that teachers need to cover.. There isn’t time to do this conversation justice. Elementary schools would not go for it because of the age of the students. Look, I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just not going to happen. They need to have conversations about bullying and tolerance on campuses that aren’t happening. Kids are seeing things and saying things and administrators are doing nothing. We need to have a lot of conversations before that one.

[Freelancer]

12. I'm past having kids. If I went to a school, I'd probably get arrested.

You must know people don't just show up at schools to look around and be given little tours. So, I take it that is your standard "you're not a teacher, so you don't know what you're talking about" retort. Fair enough. You don't want to deal with another thing. Again, fair enough. I bet, though, that there's a kid tonight -- either in the hospital or the morgue -- that wouldn't have been hurt if they knew to duck behind a cinder block wall instead of an acoustic room divider. That should have been in their heads. It's a disservice to them that we didn't put it in there. If you don't want the burden of that, again, fair enough. But, let's see that it's done by someone.

[Demsrule86]

15. I have seen your gun supporting posts before and I completely disagree...we don't need to teach our

kids to avoid NRA driven bullets, we need to get rid of the guns and the bullets. There is nothing you could teach that would keep our kids safe or our soldiers would not be coming home in body bags...those who endorse guns have blood on their hands...they just do.

[Freelancer]

22. I don't support guns. Think I've written on the topic once before.

I do acknowledge their existance, though, unlike some. There are 300 million of them out there. To say you won't deal with the threat they pose -- only fight for their removal is myopic in the extreme. They must be dealt with seriously on two fronts.

[onecaliberal]

17. They do drills. They ARE taught what to do in the event of A, B, or C scenario.

You never know how a student or even staff will react when confronted with that kind of fear.

Asking you when you lasted visited a school wasn’t meant as an insult but merely to point out the extent to which things have changed since you may have been to one last. I would also like to point out there are armed guards and or district police at most secondary campuses in America these days including at the school in Florida.

Kind regards.

[msongs]

6. well theres hundreds of commercially made movies showing kids how to shoot and kill. see them

at your local cinemas every night and day

[Freelancer]

8. True, but I've seen TV cops dive behind a couch. Piss poor info for kids. -nt

[lindysalsagal]

10. Respectfully, no.

Get rid of guns. Or this continues. Learning does nothing.

[oberliner]

13. What age?

[Freelancer]

24. Good question. If it were my kids, I'd say start at 8 - 10 yrs

Make it like a game at that point -- on the level of drills they have now -- showing them to get low, stay calm, follow the teacher's instructions, etc. By junior high, though, I'd say some more serious education -- showing holes in building materials, desks, and chairs and what stops a bullet and what doesn't would be appropriate. Serious minds in the fields of education and security would need to consider this.

[Demsrule86]

14. We need to rip the guns out of the hands of masses ...nothing else will work. In time the Supreme

Court will allow regulation. In the meantime we can take a page from anti-choice advocates get around the law by regulating bullets and other things that might help mitigate this horror.

[logosoco]

16. I think part of the education needs to be teaching kids to stay away from guns as well.

I grew up the 70s, those messages about "give a hoot, don't pollute" and the "crying Indian" and Jimmy Carter telling me when I was cold to put on a sweater instead of turning up the thermostat really stuck with me and I have passed that along to my kids and grand kids!

Adults need education as well. Too many times I have seen stories of young kids having easy access to loaded weapons in the home. They seem to classify these as "accidents" but it seems more like negligence to me.

Reading over threads this morning about guns, the thing that really seems clear is that there is no one solution, it will take many different things to change anything. The problem is, NOTHING is actually being done. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. We aren't even taking a first step.

[onecaliberal]

18. Kids that grow up in gun culture with parents who are gun humpers

Will not stay away from guns.

[logosoco]

19. Yes, that is a problem in itself.

One of my favorite sayings is "No one is born a racist. Everyone is born an atheist". Then, look what happens!

One thought I have had in the past (can't remember what shooting it was) but it seems harsh: stop calling some of these shootings an accident and charge people for negligence. It seems horrible, the parents whose children "got a hold of" a loaded weapon and killed themselves or a sibling, should be charged, because that is NOT an accident. Maybe if folks had the worry of being held responsible they may take more care in keeping weapons in a locked safe. Many children are taken from their homes because the parents are strung out on drugs, why does it seem to be that parents who have loaded unlocked weapons in the home get a pass?

SO much to this issue.

[onecaliberal]

21. All very good, valid points. Its a lot to get our arms around for sure.

[uponit7771]

20. WMDS should NOT be in the hands of Joe Blow Americans