I found the below letter to the editor on madision.com. In it, John Morgan suggests using self-defense classes instead of concealed guns and weapons to protect schools. I also want schools to teach self-defense classes, but that does not mean they cannot also use concealed weapons and or guns. Personally, I still stand on the fence between the guns in schools debate. I see the advantages and risks of both positions. I wish we would make all schools private, and abolish the public school system, so that the parents of students (or the students themselves if old enough) can choose which school they want their kids to attend. For example, if parents wanted their kids to go to a school with guns, they can send them to one; if parents wanted their kids to go to a school without guns, they can send them to one.
What do you think?
Here is the letter:
John Morgan: Self-defense lessons, not guns, needed
Dear Editor: The tragic stories we read in the paper about assault in schools, workplaces and the streets, usually by an armed assailant, provides the call by some for concealed weapons and guns in schools.
This nonsense misses the point. The point is, why doesn’t everyone know the basics of self-defense?
In most of these stories, it is obvious that if either the victim or a bystander had known one basic self-defense move, they could have incapacitated the assailant with one well-placed blow. Many people make the mistake of punching or wrestling with the attacker, which leaves them vulnerable.
Even a child can incapacitate an adult, should, God forbid, the need arise.
So why don’t schools teach all children in the first grade two basic self-defense moves? Then, any time in their lives they are confronted by an attacker, they could put him out of commission in an instant.
John Morgan Madison
Wednesday, October 25th 2006 at 10:33 pm
sadly, we need to make our children aware of harsh realities at an early age. no longer can they just be carefree and happy-go-lucky, because the world has changed. i think children should know self-defense techniques insofar as not trusting strangers, being aware of their surroundings, etc.
but expecting a 6-year-old to be able to defend himself against an intruder who is carrying a firearms is unrealistic. i don’t think allowing teachers to carry guns is going to help the situation either, but i do think a police presence on school campuses is in order. i think if some weirdo is looking for a school to invade, he will think twice if he sees a few police officers walking around.
Wednesday, October 25th 2006 at 5:26 pm
I am a 230 pound male, I practice Krav Maga(a rather brutal martial art), and I am quite fit. Would I want to try a “self defense move” on a man armed with a high powered semi-auto rifle? HELL NO! I don’t think a young person with almost no training would have a better chance…And there is an assumption that the attacker has none of these skills himself? On the other hand, if I was a teacher and I had some decent arms training and a handgun, I might be able to kill or wound the attacker before he could hurt any students. Barring this however, it is wise to teach students not to comply with an attacker, if unarmed and outgunned, the best approach may be to run as far and fast as possible.