To Taser Or Not To Taser?
Written by Deborah J Thomas
Filed under: Administrators, College, High School, K-6, News, People Involved, School Grade Level, School Safety Issues, Security, Students, Violence
I don’t know if you heard about it, but sometime in April of this year, a student was tasered at the Penn Hills High School. What happened was that a police officer was doing his rounds in the school grounds when he chanced upon a student using his cell phone. Now, according to school policy, this is not allowed except in cases of emergency. Naturally, the officer did his job and asked the student to turn his phone off. The student did not comply, the officer ordered him to go to the principal’s office, the student resisted, and the officer was forced to taser him in self defense.
What the officer did was a “drive stun,” which is basically placing a taser directly onto a person’s body, with the goal of temporarily immobilizing him. The student was indeed immobilized and taken to the hospital after the incident.
Quite obviously, this incident provoked a lot of reactions from various sectors. On the one hand, we have those who are saying that the officer’s reaction was extreme and that school safety officers should not be allowed to carry tasers. On the other hand, we have those who think that it is the least that we can allow officers to carry within school premises.
The people who belong to the first group argue that no matter how big or strong students may be, they are still kids, and exposing them to the possibility of being tasered is simply not right. They also point out that there have been many cases of people dying from tasers. The people who belong to the second group argue that the taser is a better alternative to guns, especially since the former is a non-lethal weapon.
So what do school authorities think about the whole issue? There is no general consensus about it, actually. Even school districts are divided on the issue and cannot seem to agree on a single policy.
Personally, I think that the issue is not really about whether or not allowing police officers to carry tasers. I think that it is sensible, and a better alternative to using guns. However, the more important issue lies in determining how and why officers use the tasers. In cases of extreme emergencies, tasers can save lives. However, just because they are non-lethal weapons does not mean that they can be used more loosely than guns. This is the issue that school districts must look deeper into.
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