Teachers are using the #armmewith hashtag to draw attention to what they need in the classroom.
These teachers want to be armed. Just not with guns.
Using the #ArmMeWith hashtag, teachers across the nation — including in Michigan —were responding loud and clear this week to proposals from President Donald Trump and others to arm teachers with weapons so they can respond to school shootings.
So what do teachers want? They want to be armed with everything from lower class sizes to better resources to help students living in poverty.
USA Today reported Thursday that the movement was created this week on Instagram by teachers Olivia Bertels (@missbertels_) and Brittany Wheaton (@thesuperheroteacher). Bertels, who teaches middle school English in Kansas, knew someone close to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. She told USA TODAY that she and Wheaton started #ArmMeWith to combat the „absurd notion being espoused by largely NRA-funded politicians“ that arming teachers will keep schools safe.
Trump’s proposal has been met with widespread criticism among some of the nation’s teaching force.
„Teachers don’t want to be armed, we want to teach,“ Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a news release. „We don’t want to be, and would never have the expertise needed to be, sharp shooters. No amount of training can prepare an armed teacher to go up against an AR15.“
That’s the weapon used by the Florida shooter, who killed 17 students and adults Feb. 14 and faces 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Here’s how some Michigan teachers have been responding to #ArmMeWith:
Meanwhile, Detroit Police Chief James Craig told WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) that he would support teachers with military or some other type of specialized training being armed in school.
„There needs to be a vetting process, that’s all I’m saying,“ he said.
His comments drew a response from state Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, D-Detroit.
„Regardless of how well-trained any particular teacher or staff member may be, there is simply no evidence to support that they would be useful in that kind of situation,“ Gay-Dagnogo said in a statement. „An educator’s excellence is dependent on the trust they build with their students, and it is impossible for any person that emotionally invested to predict how they would react if someone — especially, God forbid, one of their own students — walked into school with a gun.“
Contact Lori Higgins: 313-222-6651, lhiggins@freepress.com or @LoriAHiggins
