Threat of Stun Gun Use Stops High School Fights

Some people think that school resource officers should carry a stun gun and some people think they shouldn't. Is it too extreme or are our schools dangerous enough to justify them? I don't know if I can answer that, but I do know that when one was used to stop a couple fights in a New York school recently.

It was the end of a school day and everything had been going fine. Everyone thought they were going to get to leave for the day when they got a rude awakening. A fight broke out between several girls and at the same time, another fight broke out between two boys. The whole event started to escalate into a very large disturbance that threatened to get way out of control.

The resource officer showed up with several teachers. They tried to break up the fights but were having a hard time. That is when the officer pulled out his stun gun and warned the students that if they didn't stop fighting he would be forced to start shocking them. Thankfully, he didn't need to use it because the fighting stopped almost immediately.

Three of the girls were arrested for fighting and one boy was arrested for a charge of menacing. The officer is going to review the school surveillance camera tapes and may make other arrests if the tapes reveal that others were being troublemakers.

Schools are incredibly violent places these days. I know there are times when officers have discharged their stun guns on students, but this time they didn't need to. If only that were the case every time there was a disturbance, keeping the peace would be a lot easier.