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Memphis-Shelby County Schools physical education and health teachers began leading one-day gun safety classes this week under a new state law requiring firearm safety curriculum in all Tennessee public schools.
District leaders said the training should be finished by fall break. According to the 2024 state law, the curriculum needs to be “viewpoint neutral on political topics,” including gun rights and the Second Amendment.
The safety lessons are necessary to prevent accidental shootings, district leaders said, but some parents are skeptical that the program will make an impact, and others asked during a virtual town hall Thursday if they could opt their children out of the classes.
Jim Harbin, special projects coordinator for MSCS’ health services office, said that isn’t allowed. He compared the lessons to fire and lockdown drills.
At a presentation Friday at Dexter Middle School, Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond called the new curriculum “something positive.”
“Even before the state started to talk about it,” he said, “I wanted to do something around gun violence because of the impact it’s having on our community.”
Since 2020, firearms have remained the leading cause of death for children and teens nationwide. Tennessee ranks third in the country for the highest number of unintentional shootings done by children.
Lanetra Wiley, a nurse practitioner for Memphis-Shelby County Schools, said she remembers the day she found out one of her students had been killed by his friend in an accidental shooting.
“I saw him in the clinic one Friday, and on Monday he was dead,” she said. “I know you all play Black Ops, Call of Duty, all of those games. But they are not reality.”
Curriculum guidelines from the Tennessee Department of Education outline four firearm safety rules for children: Stop, don’t touch, leave the area, and tell an adult. The lessons change based on grade level, starting with emphasis on recognizing the difference between toy and real guns and progressing to instructions for proper gun storage by middle school.
“As superintendent, I want to see all of you all grow up to be the people that you were meant to be,” Richmond said Friday. “There’s never going to be a positive outcome when it comes to you all, particularly young people, dealing with guns.”
Harbin said the district will share more resources with parents in the coming weeks.
Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.
