teacher options

[butler coach]

So I work in one of these “gun free zones” however we now have armed security. What do you think I should carry while at work which is a high school grade 11 and 12. Gun and knife are out of the questions. A knife can be carried as long as it’s a “tool” used in every day activities. So I carry my Swiss army knife. In my room I have a lot of improvised weapons so not too concerned here just while I am moving through the halls or cafeteria duty, etc… I have been in some self-defense training and am going to get more soon. I am open to all suggestions just trying to do some brain storming to get a plan for myself.

[JM Campbell]

Kubaton, sap, asp telescoping baton if legal in your state. They are all easily concealed.

OC spray maybe.

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[JHC]

Would the civilian model of the Taser be allowed? It's very compact targeted to civilian carry.

[JM Campbell]

Tactical pen (surefire for example)

I do want to say that implementation of hand held contact weapons opens up yourself to extreme amounts of risk. If you are prepared and with the proper mindset I say get on with your bad ass self, but seek continued training with such tools and highly recommend SouthNarcs ECQC as a starting point and Cecil Birch with his IAJJ (his DVD just released BTW).

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[Zhurdan]

Tactical pen (surefire for example)

I do want to say that implementation of hand held contact weapons opens up yourself to extreme amounts of risk. If you are prepared and with the proper mindset I say get on with your bad ass self, but seek continued training with such tools and highly recommend SouthNarcs ECQC as a starting point and Cecil Birch with his IAJJ (his DVD just released BTW).

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Not schooled in hand to hand as much as I'd like, but it seems to me that with most of these whack jobs perpetrating this crap, ANY sort of resistance is enough to slow if not stop them. My reason for thinking this? Because they continually attack places where they expect no resistance whatsoever.

Regardless of what I'm armed with, if an opportunity presents itself (distance/surprise), I'm gonna throw a chair or a rock or a monitor or a face full of hot coffee at these jacka$$'s and do everything possible to prevent their cowardly actions from hurting others. I'm sick to my stomach at all this crap as of late. I can't carry at work, which sucks, but I'm definitely considering other alternate methods. Heck, even taking a look around your current location where you're sitting while reading this, there are always things better than just your hands, to use.

Stay safe out there everyone.

[JM Campbell]

I didn't mean to seem snarky or confrontational by my above post I'm definitely not as eloquent as TCinVA. I commend his standing up and seeking ways to take action if the situation arises.

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[Zhurdan]

I didn't mean to seem snarky or confrontational by my above post I'm definitely not as eloquent as TCinVA. I commend his standing up and seeking ways to take action if the situation arises.

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NO snarkiness detected nor non intended in my post. I just used your post as a spring board is all. I was pointing out that many of us work in places where we can't carry our guns and it sucks. That being said, there's a crap load of stuff in my office that I know I wouldn't want thrown at my face at full force.

[NickA]

just trying to do some brain storming to get a plan for myself.

IMO this is probably the most important thing.
Look around at your surroundings wherever you may be during your day, and think about possible exits, cover and concealment, improvised weapons, and the best way to utilize them. Also the best ways to move your students to a safe position. For instance, can your classroom door be locked? Barricaded? Is there a place where you can be in position to strike if that barricade is breached? Do you have windows that can be broken as an alternate exit, or that could be a point of entry for an attacker? Basically the kind of layers of defense we often talk about on a personal level.
Also, if you're allowed or if the school doesn't already drill for it, talking about options with your students would seem to be a good idea, making sure everyone knows what to do in an emergency, just like I'm sure you have fire drills (and I'm aware this may not be an option, as it would possibly cause a full-on freak out among parents and/or administrators.) At the age of your students they could certainly be an asset in their own defense, if you can get everyone on board with a plan.
Obviously I'm focusing on an active shooter type deal given recent events, but thought should be also be given to more common situations, like fighting students, belligerent parents, etc.

[TCinVA]

The bottom line is this:

If he has a gun and you don't, the odds heavily favor him.

Getting close enough to do damage to a guy who is there to kill as many people as he can before he offs himself isn't the same thing as getting close to a guy who wants your wallet.

This doesn't mean you roll over and wait to get shot by any means, but understand that closing distance with that sort of individual is a long shot highly likely to result in incapacitation the moment he lays eyes on you. If you can do it without him noticing or if he's close enough through a combination of stupidity/arrogance and you can take him by surprise it's different than going to the sound of gunshots and doing something useful.

That being said, there seems to have been multiple occasions in these incidents where the scumbag gets within arm's reach of his intended victims. ECQC would be a superb start in gaining useful skill in that sort of scenario.

Anything that would be useful as a weapon in that sort of scenario is probably prohibited by a teacher's workplace policy. You'll have to look over the details of the policy to see what is and isn't prohibited. Some policies may not regulate something like a pen knife. Granted it isn't much, but if it comes time to deal hands-on with a dude who wants to kill you being able to stuff a pen knife into his eye socket beats the hell out of fingernails. Something like one of the "tactical" pens on the market would probably get by pretty much all policies because, hey, it's a pen.

[JHC]

Baseball bats are somewhat common in schools. Every right minded teacher might should have an aluminum bat in the room.

When I was on active duty in the early '80's body armor was non-existent in the regular Army at least. I had a Second Chance Level III packed in my . . . "A bag" I think we called them. I took a lot of ribbing about it too from a couple LTs I was naive enough to tell about it. (But not the one that borrowed it for a live fire and got knocked off a tree stump he was sitting on when a mortar round fell short.) But today, that's not so out of the box. I'm reaching but to TC's point - closing on a shooter with hands or improvised weapon - concealed armor would be better than a kick in the head.