There’s another rally in Washington today. School children are calling for action to prevent school shootings. Plenty of politicians will use it to score political points. But they should follow the example set by Congressman Dave Brat (R-VA). It’s time to stop arguing about guns and start focusing on people in need.
While the popular kids are attending rallies and cutting school, what are potential future shooters doing?
While the popular kids are attending rallies and cutting school, what are potential future shooters doing? What if all those students instead spent 17 minutes talking to the kid who eats lunch alone every day? We need to stop scapegoating guns, and start listening to the silent cries for help.
Dave Brat’s Quiet Approach
On March 2nd, Congressman Brat met with about 30 school division employees, law enforcement officials and school board members. The session was closed to the media at Brat’s request. “I wanted to ensure we had a thoughtful, productive discussion. I didn’t want anyone to hold back.”
Although the meeting itself was closed, a participant later published a brief report on it. That report prompted a call to Brat’s office, and he somewhat reluctantly agreed to speak about his research. The findings of the group may surprise political activists, but they are familiar to thoughtful policy analysts.
Consensus: Students In Need
The consensus forming in Dave Brat’s district matches recommendations from other quiet discussions. The first priority is to harden the schools. We know how to protect places – we do it all the time for public arenas and commercial properties. Along with increasing physical security, however, there is a critical need to focus on children and youth. Brat described the group’s recommendations.
“Underlying the mental health status and violence is a lack of love.”
“By the end of our roundtable discussion on Friday over 30 experts from counties across the Seventh District were converging on three major points of agreement that will be used to craft legislation. The first was to put at least one professional security person at the front of every school. Second is to introduce a holistic approach to mental health which begins early on in the school system and addresses the known aggressive cases.”
“And the third is to connect the dots concerning those threat cases with local law-enforcement. It was incredible to hear all of these professionals agree that underneath the violent cases often lies severe family trauma and students without coping abilities. Underlying the mental health status and violence is a lack of love. Everyone agreed: we can provide this love and compassion to the students if we all work together.”
Listening To Voters
Dave Brat ran on a platform of listening to voters, of staying in touch with people where he lives and works. His outreach on preventing shootings is consistent with that approach. Brat signaled shortly after the Parkland shooting that he would take a careful, thoughtful approach without preconceived ideas.
“I am not supportive of taking anyone’s Constitutional rights away.”
“I will be looking for ways to positively contribute to this national discussion and real world solutions. I will be traveling my district listening to all stakeholders. I want to identify what is necessary to stop these criminals and keep our kids and schools safe.”
“I want to be clear that while I am not supportive of taking anyone’s Constitutional rights away, individuals on both sides of this debate are going to have to listen and think through these difficult issues together. I will be meeting with representatives from local law enforcement, the mental health community, security specialists, parents, teachers, counselors, and school leaders to listen to their input and suggestions.”
Seminary Training
This is also consistent with Brat’s training as both an economist and a seminarian. “I graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, where I studied systematic theology. I had planned to teach religion and ethics, but I came to Washington for a political philosophy semester.”
“I stand strongly for liberty and constitutional principles. But I learned in Divinity School that there is a time for teaching doctrine and a time for pastoral theology.”
“I studied under Rev. Phil Wogaman, the minister at Washington’s Foundry United Methodist Church. Wogaman was President Clinton’s pastor, and although we belonged to different political parties we were quite close. He taught me that the systematic approach I studied in theology was applicable to economics as well. I followed his counsel and ended up teaching economics and ethics at Randolph Macon College, where I ran the ethics minor program.”
Brat’s analytical skills are paying off. “I’m trying to get at what’s really going on here. Once you start laying out all the evidence across all the fields, there are solutions that experts agree on. The psychologists, the school counselors, think they have the ability to identify at-risk students and intervene successfully.”
“But they need the right staffing. There were over 9,200 threats last year in the Commonwealth of Virginia alone. We need trained teachers and counselors, to separate true threats from the static as they work to connect the dots with law enforcement.”
There’s another connection between Brat’s seminary training and his non-political approach. “I stand strongly for liberty and constitutional principles. But I learned in Divinity School that there is a time for teaching doctrine and a time for pastoral theology. When people are in the throes of grief, the most important thing we can do is listen, and offer comfort. This is a problem we cannot solve without a holistic approach, and that approach can be developed only by listening.”
