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Filed under: Health & safety, EducationTasers have gotten a lot of bad press lately, what with over-zealous use by some members of the law enforcement community. In fact, I'm not sure there really could be anything but bad press about the devices which use electricity to shock a target into submission. Still, that has not stopped their widespread deployment.One Pennsylvania school district is now considering adding the (generally) non-lethal weapons to their security team's arsenal. Don Homer, director of security for the Uniontown Area School District and a trained Taser instructor, met with the school board and parents to make his case for purchasing three Tasers. "We have to think of the future," he said. "I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it."Parents and other staff, however, don't seem so convinced. "This is not a safe idea," said Mary Hackney, a school teacher with thirty-five years of experience. Others questioned the need for the devices and asked what prompted the request.I'm not sure I get why the school district is considering purchasing the Tasers, but when I was in school, the police that patrolled the school grounds carried handguns only. I can't decide if having a non-lethal alternative is a good thing or if the non-lethal option would be used more frequently in cases where the situation would have been handled previously without using a weapon. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted on Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EST at http://www.parentdish.com/2008/08/09/tas...classroom/
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