Are we to return to the Stone Age?
Teachers from the Millcreek Township School District, in Erie County, Pennsylvania, approve of the measures taken to have each of them in their classrooms a bat in case of an aggressor between armed and try to attack them.According to school attorney Jon Cacchione, the only potential disagreement so far is to arm teachers with weapons more lethal than bats.
According to Cacchione, the only thing with which they do not agree as a group, although, certainly, the members individually do not agree, is the idea of giving weapons to the teachers. That said, they certainly oppose a greater presence of armed and certified police officers. But teachers are here to teach, not to be in the line of defense that carries weapons.
The protocol recommended by the authorities in the United States when there is an armed person firing inside a school, is that both teachers and students move away from the place if possible or hide, and as a last resort to face the aggressor.However, these considerations are not taken into account in all states. In the Millcreek Township school district, in Erie County of Pennsylvania, for example, it is considered that in situations like these it is not just about hiding and waiting for the authorities to come to the rescue.
According to a report by the news portal Erie Times-News, therefore, 16-inch bats were handed out to about 500 district teachers during a training session to learn how to respond to school shootings.In the words of school attorney William Hall, in this training the teachers are urged to confront the aggressor only if the other options fail.From Hall's point of view the bats are more symbolic than anything.
However, they want to have a consistent tool to have available to someone in a classroom in case they have to fight.The district ordered 600 baseball bats for training, in addition to some that will be placed in the offices and other areas of the schools for an approximate cost of $ 1,800.To Hall's consideration that is a minimum cost for what they hope to achieve.On the other hand, in order to offer greater security to students and their parents, the school district has also reinforced school entrances and taken other measures to improve building safety.
It is also evaluating public support to train and assemble selected personnel in each school if that becomes legal in Pennsylvania.Last month, the Blue Mountain school district, in Schuylkill County, released details of its safety plan. The procedure includes equipping each classroom with a five-gallon rock bucket to "punish" an aggressor.According to the president of the Millcreek Education Association, Jon Cacchione, the union that represents district teachers, baseball bats are a reminder to teachers that they should fight if necessary.To say of Cacchione this is a way in which people can feel comfortable, because the idea that they can attack and not just lock up and hide, as they were told in their training in some way comforts them.