Opinion: Don't wait for Tennessee to fix the youth gun violence crisis. There's another path.

This article was originally published in The Tennessean.

Lonnell Matthews
Guest Columnist

A mass shooting at a small private Christian school affecting mostly white, affluent families is so unimaginable that it sparked a state-wide conversation about gun laws and school safety protocols.

While that conversation is important, we also have to acknowledge that school shootings are not the reason guns are the leading cause of death for children in Tennessee. Homicides in homes and communities are driving that statistic, and it’s black teens who face the greatest risk of dying from gun violence.

While it’s up to our state leaders to decide whether they change our gun laws, there are other life-saving public policies we can affect here at the local level that our new mayor has promised to champion.

Child homicide deaths could have been prevented. Here's how.

In his inaugural address, Mayor Freddie O’Connell declared it “a new day in Nashville,” and specifically asked Nashvillians to stand with and push city leadership as they make “policy choices that move us in the right directions.”

Let’s work together and use this moment, while there is a spotlight on this issue, to start a broader conversation about why gun violence is affecting our children’s lives.  

The most recent Davidson County Child Death Review report by the Metro Public Health Department documents that most child homicide victims were “experiencing one or more behavioral, social, or school-related issues prior to death,” including truancy, academic issues, or they were previously suspended or expelled from school.

Most of the victims were killed by someone they knew, such as a peer or family member, but the circumstances of their deaths varied. Some of the homicides were related to other crimes or gang violence, while others involved domestic violence, arguments, or simply someone playing with a gun.

The common thread here: All of their deaths could have been prevented if the teens had been surrounded by more positive support and policy.

Five solutions to addressing gun violence afflicting children 

So how do we better protect our kids?

We know that when a child is having academic or behavioral issues at school, it can be a sign that they’re facing difficulties outside of school. In recognizing this, Metro Nashville Public Schools rewrote its disciplinary code a decade ago to reflect restorative justice practices, reduce discipline disparities, and help quell the school-to-prison pipeline.

The initiative has made a difference, but talk to any high school principal in Nashville and they’ll tell you that managing threats of violence and guns brought to school is still the No. 1 issue keeping them up at night.

This is a societal issue our schools can’t solve alone. It demands a community-wide solution aimed at reducing the root causes of crime, violence, and juvenile delinquency. We can start by:

• Better supporting parents: When parents struggle, their children do too. Rather than blame parents, let’s help them. From access to high-quality childcare to affordable housing for families to resources that help break generational cycles of violence, we can improve the lives of children by improving the lives of parents. 

• Addressing childhood trauma: We need to view the need for mental health services following childhood trauma the same way we view our children’s needs for nutritious food and medical care. Research shows a direct link between unaddressed childhood trauma and risk-taking behaviors during adolescence and adulthood.  

• Investing in early academic interventions, especially literacy: The path that leads a high school student to become disengaged from their education usually starts in elementary and middle school, and it affects the rest of their life. Research has shown that upwards of 75% of the adult prison population in our country is illiterate. Let’s view improving our city’s literacy rates as a public safety need, not just an academic one. 

• Offering more after-school options: After-school activities can give kids a sense of belonging, help them build a positive relationship with a caring adult, and occupy their time when juvenile crime is most likely to occur.  

• Expanding youth employment opportunities: Teens who turn to criminal behavior are often financially motivated. Let’s give them better options while also improving our city’s workforce pipeline.  

Nashville has advocates championing several of these issues already, but the conversations are siloed and that needs to change. Youth gun violence is not an isolated problem; it is a symptom of systemic disparities that have long plagued marginalized communities.

Let’s channel the recent swell of energy for saving children from gun deaths into building a more just, equitable, and safer city for all of us.

Lonnell Matthews is the elected Juvenile Court Clerk in Davidson County. He serves as a board member for Opportunity Nashville, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization advocating for educational equity in Nashville. Lonnell also leads My Brother's Keeper Nashville.