On May 14, Senator Jack Reed visited Ann Marie Torres’s eighth-grade social studies class, thanks to student Emily Del Carmen and her mom, Wendy Del Carmen, who works in the senator’s Rhode Island office.

Reed spent about a half hour talking about his job and answering the students’ questions, which were on target with current political events.

“This school has always been a special place for me,” he said. “My father was a supervisory custodian here and his big concern was always keeping the pool open. I grew up in Cranston and I attended St. Matthew’s School and then from there I went on to Lasalle and West Point and to Harvard Law School.”

Reed chronicled his path to his current position, from 1990 on, which included military service as well as public service as a senator. He told the students what it is like to work in both Rhode Island and in Washington D.C.

“I go back and forth between Rhode Island and D.C. regularly,” he said. “In a typical week Monday through Friday I am in D.C. I fly up late Thursday night or early Friday and fly back on Sunday evening to get ready for work on Monday. I have an 11 year-old daughter and she goes to school in D.C. I like to be here at least on Fridays and Saturdays in Rhode Island.”

During the question and answer period, Senator Reed answered some tough questions about current events. Regarding his views on gun control, Reed answered that serious responsible gun legislation was needed, and stated that he has been on the forefront of efforts for gun control his entire career.

“I’ve fired all these weapons, I spent 16 years in the military,” he said. “I know weapons.”

In regards to the recent Waffle House shooting, Reed lauded the heroism of James Shaw Jr., who stopped a gunman from taking more lives.

“He didn’t have a weapon and he was able to take down a shooter who stopped to reload,” he said. “He is one of the most thoughtful, generous people I’ve ever seen.”

When asked, he stated that he does support the teens from Parkland and was there for their rally in Washington D.C.

“I think those children are amazing,” he said. “I think they’re some of the most composed, articulate people that I’ve seen in my life, and I’ve met people who do this for a living.”

When asked about his interaction with the President Donald Trump, Reed stated that he has not had much interaction with him. In regards to the students’ questions about the president pulling the United States out of the Iran agreement, Reed stated that in his opinion, the move was a mistake; one that he believes complicates the United States’ ability to negotiate other deals.

“It’s going to complicate diplomacy dramatically,” he said.

He also said that the current climate in Washington D.C. is a difficult one.

“The temperament of the president always influences things more than anything else,” he said. “Our president’s impulsive, incompetent, disruptive behavior creates confusion and a ‘what’s next’ atmosphere. There is a lack of institutional capacity to govern well, and not just announce things and pronounce things. We have five embassies that don’t have ambassadors and they’re not in trivial places. We’re not able to get quality people because most have rejected Trump. It’s like trying to play Park View basketball with only four people. We don’t have a full team.”

When asked about the president’s usage of social media, Reed made an important distinction.

“First of all, you don’t get to be the president of the United States without having some skills and talents,” he said. “He used that Twitter account over the years to build up an identity and a persona and to build contacts and to get his message out. He had an ability to communicate around the media. From his perspective, it works very well. However, there are different skills needed to get elected versus the skills you need to govern. Governing by Twitter gets you mixed results at best.”