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Posted on 11/02/2015 2:14:20 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
How we educate our youth plays a critical role in whether they are active, engaged and demanding citizens-such as democracy requires. The famed Brazilian education advocate Paulo Freire railed against the "banking concept" of education, where students are filled up with knowledge. Rather, he argued, the classroom must feature dialogue between students and teachers invested in a common task of inquiry. To put it otherwise, the classroom is a microcosm of a democratic society, where students instinctively learn to behave as democratic citizens.
The NRA wants us to live in fear: The demented, highly profitable and deeply cynical logic behind arming everyone
The shooting at Umpqua Community College may prompt schools to follow the example of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, which purchased bulletproof whiteboards for its classrooms. Instead of gang-rushing would-be killers, as Ben Carson suggested, professors or students can instead rip these whiteboards off the wall mid-attack and deflect the barrage of bullets. Hardwire, LLC, a defense contractor based in Pocomoke City, Maryland, was happy to provide the whiteboards, and manufactures a variety of wares marketed to the education sector, including bulletproof clipboards for teachers and students, bulletproof shields and bulletproof inserts for backpacks.
In another line of its burgeoning business, Hardwire installed 52 pieces of armor in a Maryland stadium, "magnetically attached to beams and disguised as advertisements for local businesses." In the event of a shooting, the pieces of armor "would come right down off the beams to offer protection."
Naturally, this presents another opportunity to market to schools and colleges, each with their own stadium-some hosting major sporting events and thousands of people. Schools could simply start outfitting classrooms, hallways, gyms, auditoriums, cafeteria and the like with disguised armor, removable in the case of a mass shooting.
These products represent a new line of business for Hardwire, which had been busy providing armaments for the military. As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq wound down, Hardwire's CEO George Tunis explained, his company decided to look for domestic opportunities, and after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, saw an opening in the mass shootings here at home. Regarding worries that armaments in stadiums or schools might 'spook' people, Tunis replied that we should think of them just like fire extinguishers. "We used to have a bad fire problem," he explained. "Now we have a bad gunfire problem. And that gunfire problem is a $33 billion industry. I don't think it's probably going away."
Hardwire's company website offers the following testimonial from a student: "The Sandy Hook shooting took place in a small town with a very low crime rate, much like our town...Now that we have [Hardwire's bulletproof] shields, we have a feeling of security... this peace of mind makes our day to day lives...less worrisome and ushers in the normality (sic) we felt before the incident."
To the contrary, bulletproof shields, whiteboards and backpacks indicate something quite other than a state of "normality." Why should it feel normal for us to inhabit a society that has all the trappings of a war zone? Does this mean we will have to contend with the various mental scars common in war zones-at least in some capacity?
As the president lamented after the Umpqua shooting, prospects for gun control are dim. Which is why the various armaments, such as Hardwire designs, are seen by some as the best option to protect against school shootings. This is the world the gun rights movement pushes on us, unwilling as it is to tolerate even the most modest gun control reforms.
To justify widespread guns, and loosened regulations, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre declares that our society is rife with danger, nearly on the brink of disaster. In a letter to NRA members before last year's elections, LaPierre warned of a host of looming threats and catastrophes, including terrorists slipping across our porous southern border, convicts released from overcrowded prisons, and thousands of illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds, whom our government has seen fit to release into the general public. The NRA sees reason to fear and suspect everyone and anyone. And our schools and colleges, if the gun rights movement has its way, will reflect and reinforce the all-encompassing suspicion and deep cynicism of the gun rights worldview.
How we educate our youth plays a critical role in whether they are active, engaged and demanding citizens-such as democracy requires. The famed Brazilian education advocate Paulo Freire railed against the "banking concept" of education, where students are filled up with knowledge. Rather, he argued, the classroom must feature dialogue between students and teachers invested in a common task of inquiry. To put it otherwise, the classroom is a microcosm of a democratic society, where students instinctively learn to behave as democratic citizens.
This is close to American philosopher John Dewey's idea that the main task of the classroom in a democratic society is socialization. Facts and skills can be learned in a variety of formats, Dewey maintained, but socialization can only be achieved in the classroom, among peers who are from different backgrounds and social classes. The crucial skill in a democracy is learning to work and communicate with diverse populations. Freire rightly intuited that such facility demands a fundamental openness on the part of students. Dialogue is the ideal for the classroom, and dialogue "requires an intense faith in man," Freire writes, "faith in his power to make and remake, to create and re-create...the 'dialogical' man believes in other men even before he meets them face to face."
Such openness and optimism is utterly alien to the gun rights outlook, and plan for our youth. The various ominous security measures with which it would outfit our schools send a chilling message to children about the outside world: it is a dangerous place-and, the NRA would like you to know, one should be armed to enter into it. The outside world is populated by deranged killers; everyone must be suspected. How is that message supposed to plant the seed for collaborative work and negotiation, commitment and hope to improve society, which our democracy requires?
Of course, the gun rights movement also claims we must have guns in the classroom to protect against mass shootings. If teachers or staff are armed, so the thinking goes, they can shoot the assailant before he attacks, or at least limit the bloodshed. Many school districts have followed the NRA's recommendations. At the college level, nine states allow students and staff with appropriate permits to carry their weapons on campuses, and others are deliberating similar "Campus Carry" bills this year.
I am not optimistic about the message it sends to schoolchildren, that their teacher carries a gun, or stashes it in his desk. As a college professor, I find it quite chilling to think that any of my students might be armed. I realize I likely won't see the weapons-they will be concealed. But still, knowing the weapons may be out there will likely weigh on the conversation, and possibly even add an uncomfortable electric charge to the classroom. At the very least-and of this much I am certain-armed students and staff do nothing to promote the pedagogical and civic goals of the university; if anything, they risk hindering said goals.
At the college level in America, professors are encouraged to cultivate a "de-centered classroom," where students lead the discussion-and feel emboldened to do so. This is an effective way to help young adults develop critical thinking skills; they must engage ideas quite personally, and take intellectual, moral and political risks. In the humanities classroom, we deem it our responsibility to entertain controversial ideas, ideas that are sometimes even offensive. They must be defeated in argument. But this means that emotions will occasionally run high. Is it outrageous to think that a student might reach for a gun if offended-or insulted or disrespected in the classroom? Consider that arguments between students at universities in Arizona and Texas earlier this month-the week after the Umpqua shooting, when gun rights advocates were calling for expanded Campus Carry-erupted into gunfire, with individuals killed in each incident.
Guns in the classroom will likely have another effect. For fear that they might offend and upset people, students may be less inclined to engage with controversial ideas and entertain risky arguments. The prospect of guns in the classroom may make students reluctant to speak out, and fear sounding too critical, or bombastic-or offensive. And professors may be less inclined to stoke debate on sensitive topics, for fear of what might come of it.
Of course, what's worse is that none of the aforementioned "security measures" will provide much protection against committed and well-armed attackers. How is a teacher equipped with a bulletproof shield-or a gun-supposed to rebuff someone like James Holmes, the movie theater shooter in Aurora, Colorado, who killed 12 and injured 70? Holmes unleashed two tear gas canisters and carried three weapons with him, including a semi-automatic assault weapon with a 100-round drum magazine. Should we equip our teachers with assault weapons, too, in that case?
Of course, a shooter would first have to get past the armed guard that many schools have stationed in or near their entrances-or, in the case of my children's school, he would have to deal with our newly installed Sally Port, the kind of entrance system, parents were informed, that is typically used in prisons. But a determined killer could simply shoot open a classroom window, or barge in a side door. Should we get rid of school windows altogether, then? Or outfit them with bulletproof glass? I am sure Hardwire could oblige. To truly deal with someone like Holmes, we would need entire battalions of armed guards stationed on school grounds-and preferably announce their presence with an armored vehicle parked out front.
This all sounds laughable, but it is the path the gun rights movement has set us on. Private contractors-indeed, the whole defense industry in America-would happily pave the way, transforming schools and colleges into fortresses. In the process, however, we degrade the learning environment for our children and young adults, and undermine the lofty goals we have set for them-and for our society at large.
Firmin DeBrabander, an associate professor of philosophy at Maryland Institute College of Art, has written social and political commentary for numerous publications, including the Baltimore Sun, Common Dreams, Counterpunch, and the New York Times. He lives in Baltimore, MD.
when you live in fear, I do not fear you
LaPierre warned of a host of looming threats and catastrophes, including terrorists slipping across our porous southern border, convicts released from overcrowded prisons, and thousands of illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds, whom our government has seen fit to release into the general public.
This is all true. We have *lost* the war on terror. My kids' schools are like prisons: all the doors are locked except the front door, and you cannot get in unless you check in through the office. The kids have regular "lock down" drills, where they have to find a hiding place in their classroom. This disgusts me, but also reminds me of the bomb drills when I was a kid, where we would find safety from a nuclear bomb by hiding under our desks.
Otherwise, nothing new here. Another peace-and-love moron who doesn't understand the mindset of someone who has decided to kill other people.
When the government spends hundreds of billions of our tax dollars to train and arm every government department employees including Social Security Administration, of course Americans are concerned!
When the President and US Congressmen use the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to attack and destroy Americans they do not agree with politically, of course Americans are concerned!
When this government highlights certain shootings and then ignores mass shootings in liberal socialist controlled inner cities to call for the disarming of Americans, of course Americans are concerned!
When those government stooges demand Americans be disarmed while using armed security to protect themselves, of course Americans are concerned!
What the left needs to learn is “respect” of the American people (majority) who are individualist, who work hard, take care of their families, and are armed to defend themselves, their families, and their fellow Americans! What the left fails to understand is “Respect” is earned and not demanded by others!
Salon continues to disrespect Americans simply because they are armed and believe in their own individualism and not this out of control government! On day, very soon, Salon may understand what “respect” really means to most Americans!
Stay safe my fellow Americans! Always consider the source when ever the left writes stupid articles like the one above!
If it wasn’t for Free Republic, I wouldn’t know such a thing called “Salon” existed. I suspect most Americans never heard if them,either.
It’s a publication that has a few leftist that boast and brag incessantly about how much smarter they are than the average folks
And they publish a lot of articles and excepted material from socialist/communist professors teaching our youth.
The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again!!!
Are we ready for this?
Australian Gun Law Update
Here’s a thought to warm some of your hearts....
From: Ed Chenel, A police officer in Australia
Hi Yanks, I thought you all would like to see the real figures from Down Under.
It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by a new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by our own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars.
The first year results are now in:
Australia-wide, homicides are up 6.2 percent,
Australia-wide, assaults are up 9.6 percent;
Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
In the state of Victoria..... alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent.(Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not and criminals still possess their guns!)
While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady
decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since the criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed. There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the elderly, while the resident is at home.
Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in ‘successfully ridding Australian society of guns....’ You won’t see this on the American evening news or hear your governor or members of the State Assembly disseminating this information.
The Australian experience speaks for itself. Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens.
Take note Americans, before it’s too late!
Will you be one of the sheep to turn yours in?
WHY? You will need it.
AUSTRALIA: MORE VIOLENT CRIME DESPITE GUN BAN
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
John Adams
The secular left, as can be seen through their propaganda organs such as Salon, denies that there is a God, or that there is such as thing as moral absolutes.
The left denigrates individual initiative and self-reliance. It advocates and advances a socialist economic and social system. Socialism by its very nature is built upon the overt and institutionalized violation of the Ten Commandments that forbid coveting and theft. This is because socialism is the belief that society will be better off when government forces everyone to live at the expense of everyone else.
Every human is endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights at conception by the Creator. Secularists like those at Salon deny there is a Creator, so they deny the very existence of those rights. One of those rights is the right to self-defense, and that implies the right to possess and use means that enable that right.
I am sure the folks at Salon cherish their right to write and publish any outrageous thing, such as the article in question. But how far would they get if government said they could write anything they want, but that they could not possess the means to print or to publish it? It would be like allowing a person to hold any religious belief but that they could not express that by any action. #BakeTheCake.
Salon can say thing they want, but that cannot change the facts. The world is not all peace and harmony. And governments are not always respectful of their citizens or their Constitutional boundaries. The writers and readers of Salon are free to go about unarmed and completely vulnerable. They are free to be totally dependent upon government for protection. They are free to be willing victims. They are not free to prevent me from holding a different opinion and acting on it.
Because it’s always groups of armed folks that get slaughtered by the bad guys....oh, wait.
To put it otherwise, today’s classroom is an aberration of a republic, a goverment reeducation camp where sheeple are stripped of traditional values and learn to behave as liberals / socialists
NOTICE
THIS GUN FREE ZONE SIGN MAY BE USED AS SHIELD.
“...famed Brazilian education advocate Paulo Freire...”
____________________________
Liberation theology and arch socialist!
We are onto something,
see previous posting.
And the entire Brazilian oil industry is going on strike to protest the kickbacks taken in by government insiders...
He looks like he ought to be on the “How many convicted child molesters live in your neighborhood” website.
Salon where the efete meet to bleat.
“Can anyone think of any Liberal concept that works?”
Simple.
Trickle up economics.
The actual wealth of the nation is being transferred to the top 1% while the rest of the population is moved into poverty.
I know it’s not what you expected but creating a 2 tiered society, the haves and the have not’s, is the objective of trickle up economics.
If that ain't a pedophile, there ain't no such thing.
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