Tasers are being Phased

     In a report made by the San Antonio Express-News, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has been recently under fire for the use of Tasers in Texas’ schools. The use of Tasers and other non-lethal weapons such as the use of pepper sprays are being argued by some to have no place in our schools and should be banned from use.

     Most recently back in November of 2013, a Bastrop County student was shot with one of these Tasers resulting in the student being in a coma for 50 days coming from his head hitting the ground after being zapped with up to 50,000 volts. In addition to being comatose for almost 2 months, the student Noe Niño de Rivera could suffer lasting brain injuries.

     The author expresses that some of the opponents are saying that such weapons should not be used on students especially with all the options law enforcement officers have today. But both the author and the opponents fail to mention some of these other tactics that can be used when needed only saying that pepper foams are less likely to affect bystanders. However they do go on to say that the use of such weapons can be acceptable in a life or death situation but never acceptable as a method of controlling students.

     While I do agree with the author when it comes to alternatives for some of the non-lethal weapons currently being used in schools, I must respectively disagree that these weapons should be banned completely. Rather, I believe that training should be improved for the officers that are placed in these schools. After all it’s not the Tasers pulling the trigger. With better education officers can react and respond to situations that contain students (kids, not adults) in a manner that is more acceptable to educators and most importantly the parents.