I assumed intelligent life found in my back yard would have the tech required to get here. So really it's the proximity that determines my immediate reaction. However, my original point is that there are too many factors left out of this question to make a decision about how the majority humanity will respond. At a distance beyond our solar system that answer is guessable. A large portion would be in denial and another large portion would be curious.

Was it discovered on Alpha Centauri, Mars, or in my back yard at around 3am?

I'm so sick of reading about what gender/sex programmers and engineers are. Color blindness is the key to ending racism, and highlighting the gender/sex of people in this field is doing anything but helping end sexism.

My 2013 Fusion has been in the shop for 3 weeks in this last round of fights over the failed software. My temperature setting went to 'upside down question mark' which turns out to be extreme cold (extra cold in a Michigan winter). Finally, somewhere between 00 degrees and 2^1 degrees I found a the only heat setting... 'magma plastic burn smell hot'. So I took it in, they reloaded the software and I lost all center console controls (physical buttons) and no heat at all... and lost heated seats too. I can't blame the dealership, they connect the car to Ford servers and pray for a perfect connection to a shitty update process they have little control over. Not having my new car for nearly a month over a bad update makes me feel like software warranty should come standard with a new vehicle. This glitch was supposed to cost me $1100. Cost me about $100 in the end after the dealership and Ford ate the majority of it.

So that's why characters kept dying in Game of Thrones...

I'm only speculating, but I'd guess that people think that it would upset the current ecosystem.

Maybe "unethical" is the wrong word...again, only speculating

Hiring school security is exactly what I was proposing.

So the idea is dead because schools can't fit "Protecting our children from being dead." in the budget?

I think this conversation is dead.

I can respond to a, b and c with the same comment. Do not give them to random people. No one mentioned anything about random or untrained people.

Guns are currently in this world. Some people do terrible things with them. If the solution to protect children is to bring in an armed good guy, the armed good guy can be on premises at all times.

I wish I had mod points to mod you up. I don't understand how this solution isn't obvious. In short, the problem is that the only person with a gun is the bad guy. EVERYONE'S solution is to call in good guys with guns (cops). This article admits that a step in the right direction is to get good guys with guns to the scene faster. WHY NOT HAVE THEM ON SCHOOL GROUNDS AT ALL TIMES!?!?! It seems painfully obvious.

Because they're generally better?

"We're gonna shoot you in the knee... but now you get to chose which one."

Obligatory http://xkcd.com/859/