Ilhan Omar roasted for idea to replace police at schools with mental care workers; What if there’s a shooting? people online ask

US Democratic Party Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was blasted on Twitter for proposing that police officers be swapped with mental health staff at schools. Many argued online that the idea would make the schools even less safe.

Omar tweeted that “over-policing doesn’t make them safer – it criminalizes Black and brown students.” Along with fellow Representative Ayanna Pressley, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Murphy, she proposed a bill to replace police officers at schools with mental health professionals.

The idea drew mixed responses on Twitter. While some people welcomed the suggestion to bring mental health workers to schools, others were not okay with doing so at the expense of the officers assigned to protect the kids and teachers.

“Hey, I’m a staunch Democrat but pulling the police out of the schools is a mistake. I like the feeling knowing there is some protection for our kids when idiots and students are bringing weapons to school,” one person wrote.

Another argued that police officers are trained to “help kids with mental health problems & to prevent a school shooting from happening,” and the students and parents “feel safer” with their presence.

Commenters pointed out that removing police altogether would make the schools more dangerous, as mental health counselors would be helpless in case of shootings or student violence.

“When a mental health professional gets stabbed or beat up what will you do then?” one Twitter user asked. Another person recommended setting up “guidelines for police involvement,” instead of simply removing the officers.

Some, however, disagreed with the notion that mental health staff cannot “break up a fight.”

“Yes they will. Teachers do it all the time. Difference is they won’t follow it up with putting kids in handcuffs,” one Twitter user wrote. Another suggested that police should be replaced with security made up of “people who live in the community.”

Shootings have become alarmingly prevalent in American schools in recent decades, as well as incidents of students bringing weapons onto school grounds. Most recently, a student was fatally shot at Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas in January.

The deadliest attack on an American school over the past decade took place in 2012. A gunman murdered 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

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