During times when students are not capable of maintaining a sense of discipline, or when they can no longer be controlled, some school officials turn to the use of taser guns. Discipline is important in American schools and it remains one of the few countries in the developed world which still permits corporal punishment in places. Some school officials have even claimed that taser guns have been used on some of their students because they have overstepped the school's policies. However, questions still lie as to what "overstepping the school's policy" exactly means. Schools have yet to come up with a common definition as to when students should be tasered.
Although Taser International has attested time and again that taser guns are safe and that they are safer than using batons or chemical agents, safety issues have been raised by many parents. A biomedical expert from Duke University has already stated that in children, taser guns may affect the heart and prove to be fatal. In animal experiments, taser guns have already been proved to be fatal. Due to the results of these studies, some are led to the conclusion that tasers may be dangerous to certain individuals, especially those with heart disease. In fact, there has been an increase in the number of in-custody sudden deaths after the first year of use of stun guns by law enforcement agencies in California, according to a study by the University of California, San Francisco.
It is important to consider the psychological effects. Canadian neurologists have already reported that tasers may probably affect some neurons in the brain. Tasers have already been linked to epilepsy. Furthermore, there is an effect on the general student population. Tasers create an environment of fear and conversely, this can cause people to lash out more or to take measures to defend themselves if they feel they are being victimized.
Amnesty International has already made a statement saying that taser guns are "potentially lethal and easy to abuse." While police maintain that students are harder to control, parents are concerned that any school-based indiscipline should warrant the use of a taser gun. There are many concerns that the punishment is excessive and that alternative solutions to the problem of school indiscipline are not being tried. Finally, the use of a potentially destructive weapon such as the taser relies on a judgment call from the police officer or school official wielding it.