It is the general consensus among the American public that children belong at school. The benefits are seemingly endless: receiving an education, being safe and protected, and acquiring the skills necessary for success and prosperity in the future. Yet so often is it taken for granted that children are able to get to school at all; so ingrained is it in the routines of most American school children and their families that the bus will pick them up from their streetcorner in the morning, deposit them at school, and drop them home again in the afternoon. But what are the benefits for the bus drivers?

When the COVID-19 pandemic spread to the United States in the early spring of 2020, a panic swept the nation even faster than the disease itself. In a frenzy, people bought out the cleaning supply sections of stores, stocked up on masks, and hunkered down in their homes to protect themselves and their families and wait out the virus. Yet, for the nation’s unhoused population, safely hiding away from the virus inside their homes was not an option.

The summer of 2020 was an exceedingly turbulent time in the United States: an ongoing global pandemic, a hazy political climate, the killing of countless Black Americans at the hands of police, and, as a result, a refreshed sense of social awareness that sparked petitions, protests, and cries for change. One institution that responded to the calls for progress away from the racism present in the United States was the Washington Football Team.

Recently, it seems as though the only thing that has been on anyone’s mind is the COVID-19 virus and its rapid spread throughout the world. Yet, have we been here before?

It is clear to see that climate change will be the defining issue of this time in history, so what are young people doing to make a difference and change our planet’s bleak fate? The only thing they can do: use their voices to protest and spark change.