The Best #ArmMeWith Responses From Teachers on Social Media

Following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 teenagers and educators dead and a nation and community in mourning, a national conversation about gun control and schools has taken the nation’s attention. One of the most popular — and misguided — refrains when it comes to talking about gun control is that we should be training and arming educators with firearms so they can ward off or suppress any attacks on students in the event of a mass shooter situation. A lot of teachers, however, didn’t really care for that suggestion.

A number of educators responded in kind to the suggestion that they should be carrying guns (most notably vocalized by President Donald Trump) via the hashtag #ArmMeWith on social media. While they all had different ways of saying it, the argument from teachers who voiced their opinions boiled down this they are teachers, not security guards; they need funding for such things as school supplies, books, nurses, and school psychologists, not instructions on how to properly discharge a weapon.

Here are some of the best responses to the policy suggestion.

This teacher, who brought up the school nurse shortage crisis and the hunger crisis as a problem that has led to the deaths of students in several school districts:

This teacher, a proud gun owner, explained why she would never have her firearm in a classroom:

One teacher just asked for legally required heating in her classroom, which she apparently doesn’t have.

One teacher asked for more autonomy in a school curriculum that is increasingly standardized. Oh, and a fair salary.

One teacher called out cuts to teacher training budgets before stating that her classroom was also out of Kleenex.

One teacher simply pleaded for enough time to listen to her students.

This teacher who asked for a culturally responsive curriculum to which all students can relate.

Most notably, many educators asked for more preventative funding in general. Preventative funding that has had the research to back up the fact that kids need more emotional support, not the threat of a gun in the teacher’s desk.