Worst Idea Ever: Ohio School Board Approves Plan To Arm Custodians

After Sandy Hook, a lot of people thought armed guards was the answer to the increasing trend of mass violence in schools. The NRA spearheaded this idea, of course. Somehow, there is a segment of the population that believes more guns equals less violence. Math is not really my thing, but I think this is statistically illogical.

Assuming that we do get behind this idea, where will our already strapped public schools get the budgets to hire these armed guards? An Ohio school board thought of a brilliant idea to get around that messy financial issue. Give the school janitors some minimal training and arm them. Great. In a country that is used to being lulled to calm by a false sense of security (airports – I’m looking at you!) this should catch on like wildfire. From the Toledo Blade:

School officials say that having armed personnel ”” believed to be the first for any school system in Ohio ”” is designed to thwart incidents of violence and prevent what happened in Newtown, Conn., from occurring here.

”Sitting back and doing nothing and hoping it doesn’t happen to you is just not good policy anymore. There is a need for schools to beef up their security measures,” Superintendent Jamie Grime told The Blade today. ”Having guns in the hands of the right people are not a hindrance. They are a means to protect.”

Does anyone really believe that an armed janitor would have been able to stop the massacre that took place at Sandy Hook? Are we arming these people with assault rifles? I don’t think so. The thought of arming someone whose biggest responsibility is keeping the halls safe from children slipping on wet floors does not inspire confidence. So now, in addition to their already shitty job – we expect it to be their responsibility to throw themselves in front of the path of a bullet to protect our kids? What is going on here?

If it’s just the mere presence of guns at a school that makes parents feel safer – I’m worried about the future of humanity. The absence of logic in that argument is staggering.

(photo: Gustavo Toledo/ Shutterstock.com)