John Oliver tears apart the ‘good guy with a gun’ argument
On Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Sunday, Oliver argued that politicians’ claims that schools need more police in order to prevent mass shootings deaths is completely baseless.
“An analysis of 179 shootings on school grounds, which is a brutal thing to say out loud on its own, found no evidence that the presence of school resource officers lessened the severity of school shootings,” Oliver said. “14 million students go to a school with police but without a counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker. That is 14 million kids who are in closer proximity to a pair of handcuffs than they are to a medical or mental health professional.”
School resource officers also have the authority to arrest students for something as innocuous as throwing candy or having a maple leaf in their backpack. Parents of black students also worry that more police means more discreminiation.
“Cops in schools do tend to behave the same way they behave outside of schools,” Oliver explained. “Which explains why black students account for nearly a third of all students arrested, despite the fact that that's twice their share of enrollment.”
Oliver argued that the way to make schools safer is to implement stronger gun control legislation outside of schools, and provide counselors to tackle the mental health crisis inside of schools.
Video Transcript
JOHN OLIVER: A recent report found 14 million students go to a school with police, but without a counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker.
KYLIE MAR: On Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Sunday, Oliver argued that politicians' claims that schools need more police in order to prevent mass shooting deaths is completely baseless.
JOHN OLIVER: An analysis of 179 shootings on school grounds, which is a brutal thing to say out loud on its own, found no evidence that the presence of school resource officers lessened the severity of school shootings.
KYLIE MAR: School resource officers also have the authority to arrest students for something as innocuous as throwing candy or having a maple leaf in their backpack.
JOHN OLIVER: And when a five-year-old with ADHD had a tantrum, they were charged with battery on a police officer when clearly the only thing they were guilty of was being a [BLEEP] five-year-old.
KYLIE MAR: Parents of Black students also worry that more police means more discrimination.
JOHN OLIVER: Cops in schools do tend to behave the same way they behave outside of schools, which explains why Black students account for nearly a third of all students arrested despite the fact that is twice their share of enrollment.
KYLIE MAR: Oliver argued that the way to make schools safer is to implement stronger gun control legislation outside of schools and provide counselors to tackle the mental health crisis inside of schools.
JOHN OLIVER: They deserve to be curious, to make mistakes, to go a little too far, to be a little too loud, to basically be a [BLEEP] kid. And they definitely deserve better than the fundamental lie that the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy who can arrest a five-year-old.
