A year since Parkland, Florida students grapple with a proposal to arm teachers. Others say guns are the problem, not the solution.
By Malissa Luckett and Phoebe Morrow
On Valentine’s Day, people might expect others to wear pink and red or clothing covered in hearts.
However, one year since the fatal shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that took 17 lives and injured 17 others, students at Florida Atlantic University show their remembrance by wearing T-shirts. Various students walk through campus and down the breezeway wearing burgundy shirts that read #MSDSTRONG or their class shirts from the year they attended Stoneman Douglas.
Opinions about stricter gun laws in the state of Florida are skewed in different ways. Some people are in favor of arming teachers while others are leaning towards stricter gun laws in general. A poll conducted at Florida Atlantic University showed that 65 percent of Florida voters want more gun regulations, and 51 percent oppose the idea of arming teachers.
Walking the breezeway in her #MSDSTRONG T-shirt, 15-year-old Mariah Manzolillo, a student from A.D. Henderson FAU High School, spoke about having friends who attended Stoneman Douglas at the time of the shooting.
“I don’t like it at all, and absolutely not,” said Manzolillo when asked about how she felt about the Guardian program — which has poured money into arming school personnel in the aftermath of the shooting that rocked America — as well as a new plan to arm teachers.
The current law which was signed by former governor Rick Scott last year, states that teachers who “exclusively perform classroom duties” cannot participate in the “Guardian” program and cannot have access to a firearm. The program allows firearm authorization to other non-instructional staff such as administrators or coaches.
Now under Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state wants to revisit the idea of arming teachers. A bill that will expand the existing “Guardian” program, Senate Bill 7030, was passed through a key committee on Feb 12. This could be one of the first bills that all members of the Florida Senate will consider when legislative session begins March 5.
Sitting at the table across from Jow-Jing in the FAU Food Court, Tanvi Vaiyda, 19-year-old FAU sophomore, expressed her different opinions on gun laws in schools having grown up in India. She grew up in Mumbai, India where she attended schools through high school and moved to Boca Raton to attend FAU.
“To be honest I think there should be more than one armed guard on campuses because most schools are big and there are so many people. Having one is a start but they should definitely have more than one because safety is really an issue here,” said Vaidya.
“It is definitely crazy what is happening here, there are shootings in India but in schools — never. Schools are like a temple, they’re protected like there is a shield,” said Vaidya.
She explained that in India, students have to go through about 10 different barriers to get into school. “There are a lot of shields, so it’s much safer there,” said Vaidya.
Diwakshi Tejaswi, 21-year-old FAU junior was sitting with Vaidya and chimed in her experiences from India as well. She explained that students are unable to enter schools without proper identification.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard about a shooting at a school —it has never ever happened in a school,” said Tejaswi.
The debate on stricter gun laws will continue to cause controversy but the safety of students in schools should be a priority. Should America take the same approach as India when it comes to school safety or should America stick with arming school staff to protect students? The debate is likely to continue long past Florida’s short legislative session.
