Since the Columbine shooting, there have been 50 school shootings in the almost 20 years since. As someone who was born in 1998, this is the America that I have grown up in, but the fear that exists in the United States today is unparalleled to in the past.

As someone who wants to teach at the high school level, the increase of fear and violence within the schools is terrifying. There's no reason that students should have to go to school every day fearing the worst. A change needs to happen, but that change should not be giving teachers guns.

There is a reason that guns are banned from schools and other major public places. They incite a certain amount of fear in the public, and by banning guns, it makes people feel safer to know that there aren't any guns in the places that they frequent.

If there is a sudden increase of guns into the school, then it is more likely that something would happen, either accidentally or because the students have the knowledge that there is a gun in the classroom. Gun violence can't happen if there isn't access to a gun.

I'm studying to be a teacher; I shouldn't also have to study on how to protect my students from a school shooting. I definitely shouldn't be expected to have a gun in my classroom for personal use. I barely feel prepared to deal with a situation like that now, let alone dealing with that situation with a gun. As a teacher, there are more important things to learn and worry about than how to shoot a gun and whether or not there will be an event that will necessitate its use.

Also, if someone were to buy a gun for every single teacher, that would cost millions if not billions of dollars. This is insulting to teachers, as education funding is the first thing that gets cut, but there is a push to get teachers guns when that is the last thing that is needed in a school.

In the past couple of years, schools have taken steps to make their students feel safer but without making them feel like they're in jail. Putting more guns in schools negates all that schools have done to make their students and faculty feel safer.

Want to keep students safe? Don't bring more guns into the school when there is already an issue with gun violence. Trust teachers and school faculty; it's their lives that you're trying to change, and they have more experience with the students and the school community. You can keep your guns. I don't want them.