Teachers are lashing out at suggestions in the wake of a deadly mass shooting that school employees should be armed and are taking to social media to demand better school supplies, funding for mental health resources and increased pay.
In a hashtag created Tuesday by teachers Olivia Bertels and Brittany Wheaton, #ArmWithMe is pushing back against the “tone-deaf suggestions being made by lawmakers as a solution to America’s gun problem,” USA Today reported on Thursday.
Within hours, hundreds of posts with the hashtag appeared on social media.
{mosads}First grade teacher Lindsey Paull wrote, “The day teachers are asked to carry guns in the classroom is the day I leave my dream job I’ve had since I was 16 years old. #ArmMeWith books because six year olds need to learn to read, not be scared in class.”
At a listening event with survivors of the Florida school shooting on Wednesday, President Trump suggested arming trained teachers because gun-free zones at schools invite school shootings.
Trump said the suspect in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were killed, was mentally ill and that neighbors and classmates knew he had behavior issues.
Michelle Horsham, a high school counselor, responded with the hashtag, asking for Trump to “#ArmMeWith enough counselors and social workers to meet the social and emotional needs of all students.”
Teachers are also asking to be armed with better pay, libraries, increased funding for social services and even things as simple as school supplies.
“I should not be single-handedly keeping Target in business,” Allie Weber tweeted.
Jacob Leland wrote: “I’m a teacher. I don’t want a gun. I could use some more dry erase markers. Thanks for your time.”