today's WTF moment: texas teachers allowed to carry guns

class is in session

found this as the first headline on google news just now: Texas district allows teachers to carry concealed weapons, as a mode of self defense, in their classrooms.

directly taken from the policy of Harrold Independent school district (a 110-student district), located in northern Texas, this is how they justify letting educators to "pack heat," as news media has been saying:

Recognizing that District schools are located in a somewhat isolated area and that response from emergency first responders, including law enforcement personnel, takes a minimum of approximately 30 minutes, the Board adopts the following policy to address concerns about effective and timely response to emergency situations at schools, including invasion of the schools by an armed outsider, hostage situations, students who are armed and posing a direct threat of physical harm to themselves or others, and similar circumstances.

ummm, yeah. instead of blasting on and on about the ridiculousness of this policy, i'll just leave it with some questions:

• if you can't handle making a safe learning community for 110 students (!!), how's adding guns into the equation gonna make it any better?
• guns are supposed to be "concealed." who says that students, or anybody for that matter, won't be able to find a way to get to those weapons?
• dude, there are teachers who can't even manage their own classrooms, who irresponsibly and unethically have relatinoships with their students, who feel threatened by their own students for unvalid and sometimes valid reasons: what about the equation of inept/disillusioned teacher + weapon = a very scary situation?
• if teachers can defend themselves, why can't students? [seems like a dumb question, i know. teachers are more experienced, more knowledgeable adults. but this just created an even bigger power hierarchy between students and teachers, where teachers are not only the "holders of knowledge," now they're basically the police too. i know that teachers aren't supposed to be using the weapons as classroom management tools, but let's not act like bringing in guns into the classroom doesn't create yet another complicated power dynamic.
  
• why not think of preventative measures for columbine-like experiences, for student conflict, instead of thinking of a reactionary bandaid solution, that, inevitably, will probably make matters even worse!!!!???!
• what the fuck??