This study uses Ferraro’s risk assessment model to examine how arming teachers affects student perceptions and finds that perceived risk of victimization decreases feelings of safety if teachers are armed.
Using survey data from six Midwestern school districts, the authors apply Ferraro’s risk assessment model to explore how individual and school conditions impact feelings of safety if teachers carry guns in school. The study finds perceived risk of victimization decreases feelings of safety if teachers are armed, which is driven by self-reported and vicarious victimization. Self-reported delinquency, in contrast, is directly related to feeling safer if teachers are armed. The study concludes that arming teachers may mitigate efforts to help students feel safe in school by increasing fear among those with victimization experiences. Arming teachers remains a divisive issue in the United States. Since one goal of this policy is to improve perceptions of safety, it is important to understand how arming teachers impacts students. (Published Abstract Provided)