Arming teachers not the answer
As a former educator with a daughter in kindergarten and a son entering pre-K, I was disappointed to read that Hamilton County's superintendent and sheriff are discussing arming teachers in our schools as a viable option.
While our schools should be safe and secure from intruders, a first step is making sure Hamilton County's schools have basic security systems at entrances and locked doors during the school day.
Just because something is "the least expensive of all the choices" doesn't make it a good idea. Increasing access to guns in our schools will only make our children and teachers less safe.
It is time to demand change from our legislators and stop this insanity. In the meantime, Hamilton County should be focused on improving school and community resources, supporting its teachers and investing in education, not gun training and guns.
Willa Kalaidjian
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Schools have better options for protests
So Hamilton County Schools does not "endorse" but will not "punish" students for walking out of class on March 14. Really? What is this, exactly?
Yes, teachers and staff definitely need this added to their plates. OK, student, so choose to walk out of class. You have now chosen to miss my instruction and assignments, an unexcused absence resulting in a zero.
The superintendent should take it further. If a student leaves the campus, he cannot come back that day and also relinquishes en loco parentis protections as well as bus transportation home that day.
To display due respect and concern, instead of giving administrators "guidelines" for a walkout, how about having students stand in their classrooms for 17 minutes of silence and have guidelines for (gasp!) praying for our leaders in solving these problems and for the families, survivors and the school that endured this horrific tragedy?
Linda Ray
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The solution: Ban all assault rifles
We hear a great deal about the greatness of America. How can a great country retain that greatness if it can tolerate the repeated killing of its citizens in mass shootings in schools, at concerts, in nightclubs, in theaters, at other sites.
How many more of these tragedies will we endure before we seriously consider real solutions? Will it take five, maybe 10?
Closer background checks, smaller ammunition clips, bans on bump stocks, armed teachers - all may have some effect. But why not eliminate access to the common denominator in all these events, the assault rifle.
These weapons have their place in battle and law enforcement conditions but not in the hands of the general public, certainly not 18-year-olds. Sixty-seven percent of Americans, according to a recent poll, support this ban.
The Florida shooting, however, has unleashed the power of its youthful victims. They are hurt, articulate and determined, and they have the numbers to mount a serious war for change. They are unbeholden to anyone and motivated by their memories of an unspeakably horrible experience.
We should all listen closely. We owe them that.
Clare Sawyer, Soddy-Daisy