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Teachers voicing their concerns after President Trump calls for armed educators

Posted at 10:26 AM, Feb 24, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-24 10:26:05-05

Teachers across America have been voicing their concerns after the President called for some to take up arms.

 

"A teacher would've shot the hell out of him,” said President Trump.

Now, a different perspective on those concerns as some say teachers locked and loaded could mean something very different to students of color, than to those who are white.

 

Bridget Crist is a therapist at a school based in Cleveland's Metropolitan School District.

She fears guns in teacher’s hands could further divide classrooms along racial lines.

 

"kids who were doing the same thing who were white were not being sent to the principal's office,” said Crist. "I feel very frustrated. I wouldn't want my kids going to school with teachers with guns."

 

"This has been a season of rhetoric that has taken us way to another level,” said Danielle Sydnor.

 

Sydnor has two sons.

 

"It’s nerve-wracking to know that were in an environment where young men can be looked at as targets and threats,” said Sydnor. "Young black men end up in situations where they go to the principal’s office more, they're asked to exit the classroom more often. I don’t think there’s any reason we should weaponize a classroom."

 

According to the national organization of school resource officers, African American students makeup 15 percent of enrollment but account for 33 percent of arrests.