Gun control

Gun control

This is my least favorite topic to write about. I never thought someday I would be writing about guns. I don’t know much about them and I am not interested at all. But whether I am interested or not guns are affecting all of us. We all know what happened at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Along with many other questions the topic of owning guns is another question we are all dealing with. As a citizen and a mother I would like to give my opinion. I personally don’t like guns and wish people wouldn’t carry guns like it wasn’t a bit deal. Not to long ago there was an article in the news about this topic,  “Clearing the guns from the streets of LA” here is the link http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/clearing-the-guns-from-the-streets-of-la-its-time-to-change-we-must-get-these-guns-off-the-street-8432183.html. It is an interesting incentive. It is heartbreaking when we hear in the news how many people are dying by guns. Last Thursday in Utah 200 teachers got free gun training in response to Newtown shooting. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/28/16206006-utah-teachers-get-free-gun-training-in-response-to-newtown-shooting.

When I watching the news I was wondering how many teachers would be comfortable holding a gun. We have come to the point where now educators are carrying guns. I wonder how teachers are able to teach while having guns in their classrooms. As a citizen, mother, and early childhood teacher I am not conformable with it.

While I was growing up in Karachi, I had read and heard about people in places where the Taliban had control, that is where people carried guns all the time. However here in the U.S I wonder how children feel when they see teachers carrying guns with them. Will they really feel safe and be comfortable at school. In addition what kind of message are they getting from it?

Many years ago I was going through a difficult time, I had recently moved from Chicago to a small town and didn’t know very many people. My daughter’s were very young and I was concerned about their protection. There were many times that I considered getting a gun for protection however something always stopped me. But I still needed some kind of security. I then decided that all three of us would take a Martial Arts Class. Honestly I didn’t know if my girls would be able to learn and enjoy at the same time but I wanted them to trust that I would protect them. Martial Arts helped improve my self-esteem, gave us all confidence and it’s a great sport for the mind and body. It has been ten years and thanks to God we haven’t had to use these skills on anybody but at least we were always ready.

I think teachers should take some kind of self-defense class. This way they learn to trust themselves and feel comfortable too. There are many different types of self-defense activities out there. Educational facilities are places that should be free of stress and be a relaxing environment. Kids can feel when something is wrong and they trust their teachers. Many students trust their teacher more then their own parents. Teachers are very special people whose utmost priority is the safety of their students.