Monday, August 11, 2008

Is The School Having a Weapons Problem?

Uniontown, PA wants to arm its school police with tasers. I'm sure that anyone concerned about the plan was put at ease by this statement from an external consultant:
Concerned parents and residents questioned the necessity of the devices at a public meeting Wednesday night, but a Cleveland consultant said in an interview Thursday that a Taser can be a "useful extra tool" for authorities as an alternative to a firearm in gaining control in a tense situation.
Beyond the annoyance of a private consultant going around charging school districts for information on new ways to inflict pain on children, the simple truth is this: unless the school has a large number of students pulling guns and knives (And if they do, where are their metal detectors?), the argument for tasers as an alternative to deadly force goes right out the window. We're left with taser use simply for the sake of inflicting severe pain to achieve compliance. That's also known as torture.