Thursday, January 28, 2010

School District in North Carolina Debates Use of Tasers as Discipline Tool

In North Carolina, students at Guilford County schools have seen Tasers used to “quell unruly students” four times during the current school year, according to the Winston-Salem News. The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department provides “resource officers” to Guilford schools to keep the peace and deal with students who are acting out. The resource officers now carry Tasers and – with four incidents in a matter of months – have clearly demonstrated their willingness to use these weapons as they see fit.

Parents are worried about the use of these “less-lethal weapons” in their schools. One parent said, “It’s a scary thing. [T]here’s a possibility of death. I don’t know how we can live with ourselves if one of our students died.”

Another parent pointed out, “We’re here saying it’s ok to shoot 50,000 volts of electricity to a child, and it’s not right…I’ve never felt the need to have 50,000 volts of electricity to handle children.”

Parents are right to be concerned. Since 2001, it is believed that around 400 deaths have been caused by Tasers. Even where fatalities do not occur, significant injuries are possible. When a person is shot with a Taser, it is common for the person to fall down, which always carries a risk of head injury or other harm. For example, in December, an Ohio man died of a skull fracture when he fell down after being Tasered.

Tasers send an electric pulse with around 50,000 volts, which lasts for about five seconds. The electric pulse essentially gives the target a very intense shock, which causes pain, muscle contraction, and temporary paralysis. According to heart experts, Tasers can cause cardiac arrest.

The Guilford County School Board is debating the current Taser policy. The board may vote to end the resource officer program with the Sheriff’s Department and hire a private security company. The use of a private company would give the school board more control over whether officers could use Tasers, and under what circumstances.

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