The generations after us are the ones who will continue carrying out the work of improving our world when we are gone. So during these times we must balance our efforts between the current work and making sure that they are set up to continue sustaining themselves and the work. There are many organizations and initiatives that aid and support the development of young people, with more that are run by young people showing up. These organizations and initiatives have made great strides.

And it must also be acknowledged that the positive benefits of these efforts could go even further with more support from the public school system. As it is now the current structure of our public school system waters down, more than it aids, the transformations these organizations and initiatives bring. It is a system that educates, but more so through the lens of training the future worker and the future college student, not the future citizen.

And how can it? It’s structures are not built around concepts like giving students as much agency as possible. And it’s Band-Aid fixes of student councils and the occasional survey are just not enough. Instead we need to deeply collaborate with students to create alternative structures and more grassroots learning environments.