Parkland Activist Emma González on "60 Minutes": Arming Teachers Is "Stupid"
Emma González, a leader in the #NeverAgain movement sparked by the shooting at her school in Parkland, Florida, pointed out key flaws in President Donald Trump’s claim that arming teachers with guns could stop school shootings.
The activist called the idea of giving firearms to teachers in the classroom “stupid” during an interview with 60 Minutes that was released Friday, pointing to the financial burden of the program on an already underfunded education system and the logistical difficulties of giving teachers guns in self-defense.
“Douglas ran out of paper for, like, two weeks in the school year, and now all of a sudden they have $400 million to pay for teachers to get trained to arm themselves? Really? Really?,” Emma told CBS’ Sharyn Alfonsi. “If you're a teacher and you have a gun, do you keep it in a lockbox or do you carry it on your person? If the teacher dies and a student who's a good student is able to get the gun are they now held responsible to shoot the student who's come into the door? I'm not happy with that.”
Trump’s White House supported the idea of arming teachers in the weeks following the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed on February 14. Trump remarked at a meeting with students and parents from Parkland on February 21 that “if you had a teacher with—who was adept at firearms, they could very well end the attack very quickly.”
Since Trump’s endorsement, the Justice Department has been directed to work with local law enforcement to provide “rigorous firearms training to specially qualified” volunteer school personnel," according to Andrew Bremberg, director of Trump's Domestic Policy Council, Time reported. The concept has been met with backlash by teachers and students across the nation.
In fact, 73 percent of teachers are opposed to teachers and staff members carrying guns in schools, according to a Gallup poll released Friday. The majority of the 497 K-12 educators surveyed by Gallup felt that additional guns on school property would actually make students less safe.
The 60 Minutes segment is scheduled to air in full on Sunday, and previews show Emma and her peers talking about the motivation for the #NeverAgain movement that has pushed America toward a national reckoning on gun control.
“I mean, I have no choice,” Emma remarks with a straight face.
“We’re the mass shooting generation,” another student adds.
Emma’s mother, Beth, said in the 60 Minutes interview that it’s terrifying to watch her daughter become one of the most recognizable faces in the debate around gun control, remarking that adults should have addressed the problem decades ago.
“Well they're asking it of themselves, but some adults are saying, you go girl, you changed the law,” Beth said. “And I'm like, well, what are we doing?”
Related: Douglas Students Are Following in the Footsteps of Their School Namesake
