But while political activism is linked to positive mental health outcomes for most young people, the picture is more complex for LGBTQ teens and young adults. Two in five reported having at least one concern impacting their lives, prompting them to聽consider whether to move to a different state or cross state lines to obtain health care.聽

鈥淚t’s a complex situation in that LGBTQ+ youth might feel more motivated to be engaged with political conversations or be civically engaged because they’re also more impacted by those anti-LGBTQ+ policies,鈥� says Tiffany Eden, lead researcher on the report. 鈥淏ut at the same time, they’re also living with the repercussions.鈥� 

The survey was administered between the fall of 2022 and fall 2023, before President Donald Trump鈥檚 inauguration and his immediate attempts to roll back LGBTQ rights, Eden notes. More recent data, including dramatic increases in the number of calls to suicide prevention hotlines, indicate politics鈥� negative impact on queer youth has likely spiked since then. 

Transgender and nonbinary youth were more likely to say they were motivated to take action than their cisgender peers: 63% versus 55%. Half of gender nonconforming youth reported having at least one LGBTQ-related political concern, compared to 35% of cisgender young people. 

These political concerns can lead to mental health challenges, the survey showed. About 70% of those with at least one LGBTQ-related political concern reported recent anxiety, versus. 63% of those without worries. More than half of those with concerns, 56%, reported recent depression, compared to 50% of those without.  

The problems were more significant for young people who said they were unable to meet their basic needs, with 52% harboring concerns compared to 43% whose needs are met.. Half of transgender and nonbinary young people had political concerns, versus 35% of cisgender peers.

Researchers also found geographic differences that frequently mirror the country鈥檚 political landscape, with 54% of those in the South saying they have concerns, vs. 47% in the Midwest, 37% in the West and 30% in the Northeast. 

Differences in young people鈥檚 ability to get their needs met shows up in the data regarding specific types of civic engagement. For example, the vast majority of LGBTQ 18- to 24-year-olds were registered to vote, but the proportion drops for those facing barriers. 

鈥淭hat might be because they’re having more challenges or obstacles obtaining identification that aligns with their gender identity so that they can register to vote, and things like that,鈥� says Eden. 鈥淭hat is probably one of the most important takeaways: That it looks different in LGBTQ+ youth in general, but even within that we see disparities and different groups that might need more support in order to be more engaged in the civic process.鈥� 

Political engagement among those too young to vote was lower at 55%, compared to 64% of 18- to 24-year-olds. But even with more limited opportunities for engagement, the impact of recent policy changes is disproportionately felt by queer youth, says Eden. 

鈥淲hen you think about anti-LGBTQ plus policies that would impact young people, they’re impacting kids that are actually in schools,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hese are bills about using bathrooms that align with your gender identity and playing on sports teams 鈥� things like that.鈥� 

Policies enabling in-school support are particularly important to LGBTQ youth. Slightly more than half say they are accepted by peers or teachers at school, compared with 40% who are supported at home.

The report is part of a series of analyses of longitudinal data Trevor compiles 鈥� which have taken on a more critical importance as some states ban or opt out of LGBTQ youth welfare data collections such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. 

At the same time, the number of young people affected has risen sharply in recent years. Estimates vary depending on how data is tabulated, but in a recent Gallup survey, almost 2 million 鈥� or 9.5% 鈥� of teens ages 13 to 17 now identify as something other than straight or cisgender. That鈥檚 nearly twice as many as in 2020. 

Titi Adams wanted to help others with disaster recovery after her own family struggled to get federal aid following last year鈥檚 tornado in Cypress, Texas. 

For Parv Mehta, years of computer science classes sparked his desire to teach kids in Washington state about the dangers of artificial intelligence and deepfakes. 

And Jackson Simmons-Furlati鈥檚 passion project of buying a hydroponic planter for his California high school turned into a mission of supplying fresh salads to schools across his community.

These four teens were recently awarded fellowships, under a new program from the national nonprofit . For the 2025-26 school year, 100 teams of five participants each will receive up to $7,500 to address real-world problems in their communities. The 500 fellows, ages 14 to 24, will implement their projects during the next school year, with the help of a mentor. 

The program was piloted in a couple of states in recent years, but this is the first time it鈥檚 been offered to students nationwide, said Beverly Sanford, the institute’s vice president. The 500 students come from 27 states and the District of Columbia, and a second cohort will be selected for the 2026-27 school year.

鈥淭hese are big, ambitious efforts, and we think they鈥檙e really going to both bear fruit for their communities and help cultivate a new generation of leaders,鈥� Sanford said.

Here鈥檚 what four of the fellows have come up with:

Angela Choi, 17

Junior at Greenhills School, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Angela and her team created the Youth Caregiver Action Network to help students in the Detroit area who are also caretakers for an ill family member.

It wasn鈥檛 uncommon for Angela to miss crucial study hours or class time as one of the main caregivers for her 14-year-old sister, who has autoimmune encephalitis, a condition that causes neurologic disorders. Angela helps her parents take care of her sister when she needs to go to the emergency room or has emotional outbursts.

鈥淚鈥檝e had to navigate the pressure between being a caregiver and a student at the same time, without any kind of tangible support,鈥� she said. 鈥淸People have] kind of treated me as a way, or as a tool, to make my sister get better 鈥� not as a teen who’s going through a challenge as well. So that’s how this project started.鈥�

When Angela discovered the fellowship a week before the application deadline, she didn鈥檛 know any peers who had a similar caregiving experience. But when she posted a request to student groups on social media, she found other students across the U.S. who were as passionate about the topic as she was. Four of them are now members of her Carnegie fellowship team.

All fellows met face to face in July to start their project. Each team receives a coach from the program and has to identify a mentor in their community. Angela chose the Detroit Health Department because it has the capacity to reach more young caregivers, she said. 

Angela鈥檚 project includes three branches: mental health support, educational equity and civic empowerment. Her team will use some of the Carnegie grant to buy and distribute mental health kits with small gifts and local resources to youth who are caregivers at home. Research that children who care or provide emotional support for a family member have an increased risk for mental health issues.

Because young caregivers spend their time supporting others instead of focusing on education, Angela鈥檚 team also plans to work with local schools to discuss accommodations like tutoring or testing assistance. For the project鈥檚 third branch, the team wants to help caregivers with responsibilities like voting or navigating insurance and finances.

鈥淭his is something that’s definitely become my passion recently, because I wanted to go into the medical field, because my sister’s sick and all,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut if these kinds of [issues] are not really addressed 鈥� if I can’t even be considered as someone to receive help and support 鈥� the medical field is really nothing to me.鈥�

Titi Adams, 17

Senior at Cypress Ranch High School, Cypress, Texas

Titi had already started a nonprofit that provided aid to Nigerian families when she discovered the Carnegie fellowship. She decided to help her local community with an issue that鈥檚 become more prevalent in recent years: natural disaster recovery.

Titi was 13 when wreaked havoc across Texas in 2021, causing millions to lose power and roughly 200 deaths. Last year, a tore through her own neighborhood. She said her parents are still fighting to receive a check owed to them from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for repairs.

The disasters and her parents鈥� struggle inspired her to create a project to educate citizens about community recovery resources and the FEMA financial aid process. Titi said her team wants to focus their efforts on low-income and underserved communities that are than their affluent neighbors.

鈥淣ot getting the checks you鈥檙e supposed to get was the first [thing] we felt we could actually maybe do something about,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to help people advocate for themselves and realize that they do have options in regards to FEMA.鈥�

Titi said her team hopes to reach at least 200 people during the next school year by producing pamphlets, flyers and digital campaigns in partnership with schools and local nonprofits. 

She said she thought her project idea might be too niche 鈥� until a devastating flood in central Texas killed , including 35 children, on July 4. 

鈥淲hen we saw people鈥檚 response, it validated us that maybe this is actually a problem and we can make a difference,鈥� she said.

Parv Mehta, 17

Senior at Eastlake High School, Sammamish, Washington

Parv had been passionate about computer science for years. But when ChatGPT was released in 2022, his interest shifted to tech policy and the ethical use of artificial intelligence. 

As software became more and more sophisticated, Parv said, he was increasingly aware of the potential for problems such as 鈥� videos, audio or images that seem real but have been manipulated by AI. Since 2019, 47 states have implemented laws addressing deepfakes, according to a national . 

Parv鈥檚 project aims to educate youth on AI, deepfakes and other digital media through hands-on workshops and teacher curriculum. He wants to focus on students who are Black, Indigenous and people of color because they often attend schools with less AI education than their white peers.

鈥淲e decided to specialize in BIPOC communities because we see the need there the most, even though everyone should be AI and deepfake-literate,鈥� he said. 

The team plans to partner with schools and community nonprofits to offer in-person workshops taught by Parv and other members starting this fall. They eventually want to create a curriculum to help teachers bring AI education into the classroom. 

鈥淲e put in a metric about how many people we want to impact. We said 75 people in person and then over 200 people online. But to me, this fellowship is about making as much impact as possible,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to make sure that almost every kid knows about AI in Washington in five years. We鈥檙e going to work really hard to get there.”

Jackson Simmons-Furlati, 16

Sophomore at Dos Pueblos Senior High School, Goleta, California

For years, Jackson has raised money for his local food bank, but he recently became interested in inexpensive ways to provide families with fresh, healthy food. Last year, he used his own money to buy a hydroponic garden for his high school. It鈥檚 an 11-foot tower that grows produce vertically, without the need for soil.

Jackson said the logistics of installing a hydroponic tower next to his high school鈥檚 cafeteria was challenging, but the district eventually approved it with the support of his principal. 

Between January and the end of the school year in the spring, he was able to grow and harvest enough vegetables to create about 100 salads a week. Now, Jackson and his team will be using Carnegie fellowship funds to expand the project to other schools in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. About half of districts in the state have at least one school garden, according to the .

鈥淚鈥檝e been reaching out to other schools in my area, and I鈥檝e been talking to an elementary school that has been pretty interested in installing half-towers 鈥� since the kids are tiny,鈥� he said. “The Carnegie grant will be used to buy saplings for the towers.鈥�

Jackson said the project isn鈥檛 just about providing fresh food, but also limiting plastic use. The salads he made during the school year were served without using any plastic materials, and his team plans to continue the trend at other buildings. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to grow and trying to expand,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hich is great, especially with the Carnegie grant.鈥�

This is not a matter of partisanship, but an honest acknowledgment of the real-life implications that policy shifts have on vulnerable communities. For educators, parents, and community members, this moment brings an urgent responsibility to equip young people鈥攅specially children from historically marginalized communities鈥攚ith the tools to navigate and shape a world that may not always prioritize their needs. 

Achieving this level of engaged citizenship requires a meaningful civic education that strikes a delicate balance: nurturing young people鈥檚 aspirations while giving them the resilience and awareness needed to confront the world鈥檚 complexities. 

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and author Ta-Nehisi Coates have powerfully illustrated this balance in their writings and speeches, offering complementary perspectives on how to engage with the challenges of an imperfect world. 

In his , Dr. King spoke of the 鈥渋sness鈥� of human nature and the 鈥渙ughtness鈥� that forever confronts us, rejecting the idea that humanity is incapable of striving for a better future. Coates, in, urges his son to embrace the difficult truths of his 鈥渧ulnerability鈥� as a young Black man and grow into a 鈥渃onscious citizen of this terrible and beautiful world.鈥� His message emphasizes the importance of understanding harsh realities鈥攏ot to surrender to them, but to remain actively engaged in the struggle to shape a more just and compassionate society

Where Coates challenges us to confront the present with honesty, King inspires us to work toward the aspirational: a world of justice, dignity, and equality. Together, their insights encapsulate the dual purpose of civic education: helping young people see the world as it is while empowering them to imagine and work toward the world as it ought to be.

This kind of education engages with the painful truths of history and the hope that democratic ideals can be realized. It equips young people to understand the workings of government, the legacy of social struggles, and the realities of race, identity, and power that shape the world. By fostering this understanding, civic education empowers them to actively push back against any attempt to diminish the rights and dignity of vulnerable communities while preparing them to be agents of positive change.

In this context, the role of educators is paramount. Teachers must transform history from a collection of dates and events into a complex narrative that reveals its relevance to today鈥檚 world. 

At Democracy Prep Public Schools, where educators work to empower future leaders, research-based projects are engaging students and illuminating these connections. For example, students in an AP Seminar course examined the causes and effects of mental and physical health issues in Native American communities, exploring historical injustices and proposing actionable solutions to address health disparities. Such projects show how supplies students with the tools to tackle systemic challenges and advocate for meaningful change.

Every educator, regardless of the subject they teach, plays a role in nurturing a generation of informed, empathetic, and resilient citizens. Starting in the early grades, schools must integrate age-appropriate civic learning that fosters critical thinking, empathy, and an understanding of students’ roles within their communities. At the same time, brave spaces must be established where students can safely exchange ideas, confront difficult truths, and explore possibilities for change.

This foundation of civic education must include opportunities for students to develop a sense of efficacy鈥攖he belief that their advocacy and collaboration can drive real, transformative progress. Practical strategies like debates on current events, collaborative projects addressing global challenges, and engagement with diverse perspectives empower students to connect their learning to real-world impact.

Families and communities are equally vital in reinforcing these lessons by modeling active citizenship and building systems of mutual support. Sharing resources, advocating for local change, and supporting vulnerable populations create resilience and highlight the collective power of communities. Civic engagement, therefore, becomes not just an individual act but a communal commitment to fostering justice, inclusion, and well-being.

Research supports this perspective, showing that civic education efforts extending beyond the classroom and into the community deepen students鈥� sense of connection and emotional engagement.

, researchers found that integrating community involvement into civic education not only strengthens students鈥� ties to the people and places around them but also inspires them to actively participate in building a more just and inclusive future. By witnessing and contributing to community-driven efforts, young people gain a richer understanding of democratic principles and see their own potential to enact meaningful change.

Active civic engagement means holding the government accountable, advocating for policies that reflect a broad spectrum of interests, and building networks that strengthen resilience. It鈥檚 essential that educators broaden their understanding of civic responsibility beyond any election cycle and the ballot box. That could mean encouraging scholars to attend town halls, organize, advocate for policy change, and continually work toward a society that honors everyone鈥檚 civil rights.

The goal for educators should be nothing less than the development of a new generation of resilient, conscious changemakers, equipped to manifest their dreams and transform the world around them, regardless of the obstacles they may face.

As thoughtful observers , that notion is 鈥� statistically and philosophically 鈥� a red herring. Young people ages 18 to 30 appear likely, at least in terms of numbers and passion about issues, to play a larger role in the 2024 election than has been true in elections over the last several decades.

There is a much more urgent issue to tackle this year than voting participation by young people. The next generation (who, by the way, the 鈥淕en Z鈥� label) does believe that its vote matters. For young people overall, according to from the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, at least 68% of them think their vote counts, but over half (57%) are dubious about democracy itself.

Today鈥檚 youngest voters have never experienced democracy and its political process as the opportunity to voice ideas, be heard, learn from different perspectives, and take part in compromise. For their entire lifetimes, they have seen two corporate parties engaged in polarized gridlock, vicious contention, and social media manipulation, all ruled by a four-year cycle that plays out on a Super Bowl-like stage with unreliable outcomes and even, on Jan. 6, physical violence.

No wonder they鈥檙e inclined not to trust democracy, or at least not to believe those of us in older generations who keep telling them it is a great thing and they should participate. Meanwhile, those of us who are older, who have privilege and influence and who experience the world as working for us, cannot understand the perspective of young people growing up in a world that does not reliably support them. Especially for women, young people of color, and those raised in poverty, it is difficult to imagine that government could ever truly work for them. It is no surprise, then, that from Supermajority found that more than 90% of young women do not believe the government and political system work effectively. For these disenfranchised populations, it is tempting to tap out.

This generation does not want to be told about the power of democracy so much as shown. They need to be able to kick the tires. They need to see it work for them, and they need to be able to engage. Where democracy is concerned, that means giving young people more opportunities, and more preparation, to take part in conversation鈥攖o come to the table, express opinions, field arguments and find solutions.

To be sure, that kind of democratic participation, the participation of voice, requires not just the occasion to speak and listen, but also the skills to do so. Events on college campuses over the past decade 鈥� certainly over the past 10 months, since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war 鈥� have made it clear that we have a ways to go in helping them learn and practice those skills. Precisely because they have grown up with a hyperpolarized, dysfunctional political environment and an omnipresent social media culture, they have learned a great deal more about how not to engage, from shouting down speakers to creating no-win situations for institutional leaders to bullying and canceling on their social feeds.

Some of us who grew up in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War may romanticize college as the time to learn to speak out, debate and engage. But as these recent experiences show, college is now too late for young people to learn these skills.

Instead, we need to begin in middle school to create an environment where young people learn to speak and listen. They will not naturally develop these skills online, where algorithms enable 鈥� even encourage 鈥� them to filter out a range of perspectives. They will not learn them in classrooms where teachers and students alike are afraid to speak up for fear of being canceled or governing speech on controversial issues. And they will not learn as long as they are allowed to think that disagreement with their opinions, especially heated disagreement, is equivalent to physical and mental harm that must be avoided at all costs.

Schools and out-of-school-time programs need new emphases on civic conversation, media literacy and discussion across differences, including both safe spaces and brave spaces in which to experiment. For that matter, the local venues where deliberation starts 鈥� town councils, school boards, even homeowners associations and church councils 鈥� should create seats at the table for young people to observe and take part. This is especially critical in communities where underrepresentation has been a systemic, historic issue. But, in truth, young people raised in any community where their voices don鈥檛 matter will be all the more likely to opt out of participation.

Before we even begin to worry about whether or not young people are voting, we need to double down on whether young people feel heard, whether they know how to make themselves heard in productive ways and whether we know how to listen and respond. Making sure that the next generation knows how the system works, and sees that it can work for them in a very local, personal way, is the best means of getting them to use democracy, rely on it and expect the best from it.

Some 27% of all people ages 18 to 29 cast ballots, more than in any recent midterm election except 2018, according to estimates from Tufts University鈥檚 .

鈥淒espite being consistently told that young people do not vote, Gen Z turned out in huge numbers during the midterms,鈥� Santiago Mayer, executive director of the youth-led organization , said in a . 鈥淵oung people are overwhelmingly pro-democracy and Gen Z showed that we are excited and ready to take part in shaping what we want our future to look like.鈥�

Young people鈥檚 ballots overwhelmingly broke for Democrats, who claimed 63% of their vote in U.S. House races. Only 35% favored GOP candidates, exit polling by the revealed. 

President Joe Biden expressed his gratitude on Twitter Wednesday. 

鈥淵ou voted to continue addressing the climate crisis, gun violence, your personal rights and freedoms and student debt relief. Thank you for making your voices heard,鈥� the president .

In what was widely predicted to be a 鈥渞ed wave鈥� Tuesday night amid rising inflation, Democratic candidates out-performed pre-election polling, picking up a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania and fending off formidable GOP gubernatorial challengers in several states. 

鈥淚f not for young people, we have a starkly different result,鈥� said John Della Volpe, director of polling at Harvard Kennedy School and author of , on .

The party in power almost always suffers stark losses in the midterms when the president鈥檚 approval rating is low. The question of who will control the U.S. House and Senate remains outstanding as election officials continued to count ballots in Arizona and Nevada going into the weekend and a Dec. 6 runoff election looms in Georgia.

While 63% of 18- to 29-year-olds voted blue, the same was true of only 51% of 30- to 44-year-olds, 44% of 45- to 64-year-olds and 43% of those 65 or older.

鈥淵outh turnout helped the Democrats defy political gravity,鈥� observed Varshini Prakash, executive director of the , a youth organization devoted to stopping climate change. 

The high degree of mobilization came, Prakash argued, despite 鈥渕assive under-investment鈥� in the issues that benefit the younger generation such as protecting the planet.

Pundits noted that analysts may have failed to accurately factor in young people鈥檚 votes in the Election Day leadup because they failed to connect with them.

鈥淟ast I checked, young people, they don鈥檛 even take calls from their mothers. I can鈥檛 imagine they take calls from pollsters,鈥� MSNBC鈥檚 Stephanie Ruhle .

Pollsters were also faulted for missing how potent the abortion issue remained for all voters, even while concerns over the economy gained ground. Jack Lobel, a Columbia University political science major and Voters of Tomorrow鈥檚 deputy communications director, the day after the election that his group had done its own polling and knew the loss of reproductive rights was an imperative for young voters.

鈥淲e saw that abortion was certainly a top issue. I think young voters recognize that when Roe fell, it may have been the first of many rights to fall,鈥� he said.

Gun violence and the prevalence of school shootings were also key 鈥渕otivating issues鈥� pushing youth voters to turn out for progressive candidates, said Lamia El-Sadek, executive director of March For Our Lives. It should be a lesson for those running for government office in years to come, she said.

鈥淭he pathway to victory for candidates running in 2024 is to make bold commitments 鈥� like passing an assault weapons ban, raising the age to buy a firearm and requiring background checks for every gun sale.鈥�

Student debt cancellation may have also pulled young people left. President Biden canceled up to $10,000 for federal borrowers and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients in September, a move that those under 30. However, a U.S. District Court judge in Texas the move on Thursday, putting relief in legal limbo. The federal government quickly appealed the decision. 

Meanwhile, in Florida, voters elected the , as Democrat Maxwell Frost, 25, won the state鈥檚 10th Congressional District with 59% of the vote. Elsewhere in Florida, Republicans saw a near-sweep, including in school board elections.

Here鈥檚 how youth showed up in some of the nation鈥檚 key races this season, according to the Tufts analysis:

• In Pennsylvania, where Democrat John Fetterman won a U.S. Senate seat by just a 3-point margin, youth ages 18 to 29 preferred Fetterman 70% to 28% 
• In Wisconsin, where Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won re-election also by a 3-point margin, young voters favored Evers 70% vs. 30%
• In Georgia, where the U.S. Senate race went to a runoff with less than 1 point separating the candidates, youth cast ballots for Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock 63% to 36%

In all of those races, the Republican candidates were backed by former President Donald Trump and espoused support in varying degrees for his false campaign to deny the 2020 election results. The strong youth vote was seen as a of those attacks on American democracy and the electoral process young people embraced.

鈥淵oung voters were the deciding factors in many close races,鈥� co-founder Eve Levenson said. 鈥淲e have more than earned our seat at the decision-making table.鈥�

Later that fall, I voted for the first time, in a local school board election. After so many years in this country, I finally felt included, like my voice did matter. As my siblings and parents became citizens, I took the responsibility of teaching them to access their vote. Whether it was translating ballots, explaining municipal roles or sharing logistical information, such support allowed my family to confidently access their right to vote.

As a U.S. citizen who came to America in pursuit of a better life and who believes in the ideals of democracy and opportunity, I struggle to understand many of the current policies that seek to , especially in my home of Texas. It seems that too many policies are meant to suppress voter rights and silence the voices of Black and brown communities. Such injustice adds urgency to the need to ensure that immigrants, communities of color and other disenfranchised groups can access their vote.

Schools have an important and unique role to play in this effort. The deep, trusting relationships schools form with parents can serve as the foundation for broader civic engagement. This can not only lead families and youth to become involved in elections, but can help shape the next generation of voting citizens by setting an example.

At , we view community transformation as a key pillar of having long-term impact beyond elementary school. We serve largely low-income communities of color who have traditionally been marginalized and silenced, both in schools and in civic engagement. Our ‘ connections with families set the stage for involvement in the nation’s democratic process. Fostering a school environment where families feel completely welcome builds a foundation of trust that empowers them to use their voices in their broader neighborhood, city and state communities.

We invest in personal relationships through annual home visits, monthly or weekly parent coffees, quarterly community meetings and an open culture that engages families as part of our school family. Even more so, Rocketship’s families are invited to lead by making decisions and taking collective action through Parent Organizing Committees and School Site Councils. Several Rocketship parents are full voting members on the network’s national board of directors. 

But even with these efforts, only 18% of parents with children attending Rocketship are registered to vote. As a public school network, we believe it is our responsibility to not only teach our students about the bedrock of our democracy, but also engage their parents to ensure they are exercising their rights as citizens.

So, this fall, for the second year, Rocketship is leading a coordinated effort across our 22 schools to in Nashville, Milwaukee, Fort Worth, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C. This will include family sessions to learn about the right to vote, communications campaigns about election logistics, one-on-one conversations to answer questions and a student curriculum about what voting means in America’s democracy, with a home-to-school connection to encourage families to have conversations about voting at the dinner table.

We will work individually and in small groups to make sure everyone knows how to access their vote: the requirements for registering, relevant deadlines, voter registration forms, polling locations and more. We also have Rocketship parent leaders in California and Texas hosting large candidate forums so parents can directly ask those running for office questions about their platforms.

Nearly half of Rocketship’s families are not native English speakers. Language is often one of the major barriers that prevents citizens from exercising their right to vote. That is why we provide written translation of materials, have interpreters at our in-person sessions and employ multilingual staff to answer families’ questions. We also think it is important for families to understand the history of voter inequity in this country and how that impacts access to the democratic process. Just like with our students, we know that if we engage parents in understanding the broader context for why voting rights are critical and why people have fought to protect them, they will become more involved. 

Rocketship will not endorse any candidates or issues; we are simply helping families exercise their right to vote. In this way, we hope to increase the percentage of parents who show up to the polls this fall and have a long-term impact on our students who are watching.

Our network strives to live our values of community and inclusion for students and families in hopes of impacting communities beyond running excellent elementary schools. I hope other schools across the country choose to civically engage their communities and take a stand to model and protect democracy in this country.

But those stereotypes have little basis in reality, according to the book, Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America, released earlier this year. 

John Della Volpe, author and director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School, analyzed the generation’s stressors and biggest motivators 鈥� and found Zoomers are more action-oriented, politically engaged and optimistic than portrayed.

Zoomers show up at the polls in historic numbers, for instance, while experiencing higher rates of depression and anxiety than older peers. Young people in the U.S. have grown up in an era marked by record gun violence, the opioid epidemic, threats to fair elections, the pandemic, economic recession and police brutality, Della Volpe notes.

鈥淩ather than melting 鈥� just kind of turning away, when you see all this chaos, which would be what a lot of people would expect,鈥� Della Volpe told 麻豆精品, 鈥淸Gen Z] has actually become more focused, more motivated, potentially more angry, and more concerned about creating justice, not just for themselves, but for all those who are vulnerable across the country.鈥�

In 2021, 61% of Zoomers agreed the government should do more to reduce poverty; 64% agreed basic health insurance is a right, according to the Harvard Institute of Polling. Both rates are up about 20% when compared to 2015鈥檚 results from millennials. 

And in the words of Alex, a Black high school student in the Midwest, Gen Zers 鈥渃an be extremely effective leaders, as many of us have been educating ourselves on social issues for a lot of our lives.鈥� 

鈥淲e are more empathetic, tuned in to the news, and educated,鈥� Alex told Della Volpe. 

Zoomers are also painfully aware of the differences between themselves, born in the late 90s and early 2000s, and people born prior who would not have had the experience of fearing death at schools, theaters, or grocery stores.

鈥淎n older generation would not understand walking into a classroom and thinking about how easy it would be for someone to shoot it up,鈥� said Grace, then 20, naming what she thinks older generations fundamentally misunderstand in one of Della Volpe鈥檚 focus groups. 鈥淭he same daily weight on an adult鈥檚 shoulders over bills or taxes is what children feel about living or dying.鈥� 

Below, explore five myths media and older generations get wrong about Gen Z: 

1. Myth: 鈥淶oomers don鈥檛 show up at the polls鈥�

In both the 2018 and 2020 presidential election, Gen Z鈥檚 turnout broke records. When over a third of eligible young people cast a vote in 2018, it nearly doubled 2014鈥檚 rate. 

Young voters, according to hundreds of focus group findings, are overwhelmingly eager to address some of society鈥檚 most pressing challenges. 

鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 my responsibility鈥o do everything I can to make the world even just a little bit better. Even if it鈥檚 not the world that I would like to see, I cannot in good conscience allow the status quo to continue,鈥� a Gen Zer from Western Pennsylvania notes in the book, explaining why she鈥檇 vote despite not being fully supportive of Biden. 

鈥�…Clean and healthy environments, access to quality education, those are values that this generation just doesn’t compromise on,鈥� Della Volpe said. 鈥淎nd currently, my perception is that there’s only one party developing solutions to address these issues, these systemic issues, including racial justice, policing, we can make a long list鈥� any party that does not address those issues will become irrelevant in the future.鈥� 

2. Myth: 鈥淕en Z is too soft or sensitive.鈥�

There鈥檚 a perception that Zoomers 鈥渕elt鈥� under the pressure of the moment, perhaps because they are twice as likely as Americans over 30 to experience anxiety and depression 鈥� likely in part due to the social and political trauma they鈥檝e experienced. They鈥檝e experienced chaos without healing across divides for a common goal, Della Volpe explained.

53% say they had little interest in doing things; 48% had trouble concentrating; and 28% thought about self-harm or believed they鈥檇 be better off dead, according to a Harvard poll conducted over two-weeks in March 2021. 

Simultaneously, there鈥檚 incredible empathy and resilience among young people eager to , talk about mental health and 鈥渟eek help and closure鈥�, Della Volpe said, to find ways to thrive.

鈥淚 dropped out because the cause of my depression and anxiety was taking so much of my time that I wasn鈥檛 getting any work done,鈥� Katherine, then 19, said in a focus group. 鈥淢y new homeroom teacher was really, really supportive, and helped me鈥o I could actually get towards graduating鈥� just having someone to talk to saved me.鈥�

3. Myth: 鈥淵oung people don鈥檛 want to have hard conversations.鈥�

In the thousands of conversations Della Volpe has held with young people of varied demographics across the country, he cannot remember a single time the group turned contentious. 

Often, he said, they found the meetings therapeutic.

鈥淭here are so many opportunities to have meaningful conversations about income inequality, climate, sexuality, racism鈥earch for those opportunities and try to engage, keep an open mind,鈥� Della Volpe said. 鈥淵oung people would welcome debates and different points of view.鈥�

One way he imagined this happening more regularly in schools is to open up cafeterias, parking lots, or auditoriums for conversations or listening sessions where young people could vent, talk through what they鈥檙e witnessing in the world. 

鈥淭he direction of the country is also a new weight and a new challenge to them. So it’s helpful for parents and teachers to look for opportunities to engage in those conversations, rather than run away from them,鈥� he added. 

4. Myth: 鈥淕en Z is all liberal or socialist.鈥�

Young people are not fully aligned politically. While a third support socialism broadly, only 15% identify as socialist. About 45% support capitalism 鈥� a rate that climbed to 54% among people shown a definition before sharing their opinion. 

When shown definitions of traditional socialism, support dropped to 24%. 

As one group of undergraduates explained, they鈥檙e looking for a form of capitalism that rewards everyone, not just the most privileged and wealthy. Zoomers look to learn from capitalist economies where healthcare and family are still prioritized, in places like Norway. 

鈥淲hile everyone’s becoming more progressive, there’s a sense of pragmatism and diversity that exists kind of below the surface,鈥� Della Volpe said. 

5. Myth: 鈥淶oomers can鈥檛 deal with face-face interactions.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 because [they] have grown up behind a screen or with a smartphone in your hands. I don’t think that’s a zero sum game,鈥� Della Volpe said of the assumption. 

Growing up with unprecedented access to the internet created a generation both adept at technology and emotionally intelligent. Gen Zers are communicators, comfortable with the nuances of remote work, how to leverage social media and express emotion or share resources on TikTok.

鈥淲hat I’ve found, especially my qualitative research, is this personal agency 鈥� this ability to not just speak in developing relationships with friends, but also to use your voice to speak out for justice,鈥� Della Volpe said.

So did the cohort that created it: a group of teenagers working with the mayor鈥檚 office.

The teens were members of San Antonio鈥檚 , a mechanism for incorporating young voices into municipal climate action strategies. Established last year to help execute the city鈥檚 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, the youth council has already made significant impacts that are visible across the city.

The bug hotel is just one example. Initiated by the youth council鈥檚 biodiversity subgroup, the squat, cylindrical, terracotta-esque structure is packed with non-toxic, organic materials that the youth council members helped collect from their backyards. Bees, butterflies and other pollinators can enter through a series of large, diamond-shaped holes in the structure鈥檚 sides and enjoy dark, cool areas to rest or nurture their young. The same group made related policy recommendations to the city council that San Antonio鈥檚 green spaces include pollinator habitat protection. 

Another cohort of the youth council worked with the city鈥檚 transit agency on a pilot program to add rooftop gardens to bus shelters. 鈥嬧�婽he low-maintenance rooftop gardens, designed in collaboration with graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin鈥檚 School of Architecture, increase habitat for local pollinators and help cool the city by mitigating the urban heat island effect. Laura Fuller, communications and design manager at , an Austin-based nonprofit that has supported the creation of youth climate councils that advise the mayors of ,  and  says the city is now discussing replicating the pilot, creating more green bus stops across the city 鈥渢hanks to the ideas and action of a handful of local high school students.鈥� 

For what the youth councils contribute to the city鈥檚 climate action plans, they get at least as much in return, offering young people the opportunity to influence policy and hold leaders accountable for their action (or inaction) on the climate. They also teach practical skills and open new career paths for a future generation of climate leaders. 鈥淭he impact these programs have on students has been amazing,鈥� says Fuller.

Youth councils harness the energy 鈥� and anxiety 鈥� that make young people particularly inclined to take climate change seriously. In  ages 16 to 25, almost 60 percent of respondents said they were very or extremely worried about climate change. The vast majority believe climate action should be America鈥檚 , a sense of urgency that has translated into political action, as young people  and  on climate platforms in ever-growing numbers. 

鈥淲e inherit the state of the environment from past generations, and will pass on the environment to future generations,鈥� says 23-year-old climate activist Mark Haver. Haver got involved in climate justice work after seeing the destructive impact of climate change in his hometown of Ellicott City, Maryland, which was  in 2016 and 2018, destroying the city鈥檚 downtown. Now, Haver serves as Chair of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance鈥檚 . 

Youth council members elsewhere are motivated by similar first-hand experiences. Texas cities are already bearing the brunt of climate change in sweltering heat waves,  and  鈥� events that are growing more common and severe. Young people from frontline communities have shown up to serve on local youth councils because  that it is still possible to prevent the worst long-term effects of climate change if serious action is taken. 

In Tempe, Arizona, where extreme heat warnings have become commonplace during the long summer months,  have created cooling plans and projects for a more heat-resilient city.

鈥淲e have high school students, college students 鈥� that want Tempe to be a livable and cool place for decades to come,鈥� says Braden Kay, sustainability and resilience director for the City of Tempe and a driving force behind the creation of the new youth climate councils there. He says youth councils are 鈥渁bout the city coming alongside of those actions.鈥�

While the climate councils in Tempe have just inaugurated their first cohorts, the groups have already  in cooperation with the City of Tempe鈥檚 urban forester. Youth council members have also pitched installing new shaded bus stops and community gardens, similar to initiatives in San Antonio. 

According to EcoRise, results like these are possible when youth councils are given access to sufficient funding and resources. In Tempe, for instance, youth councils have access to policy experts, city administrators, climate scientists, experts in racial justice and local Indigenous practitioners. Funding for the Tempe program is provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 

鈥淚 think what鈥檚 really exciting to me, and what stands out from our work is we are spending these resources and using these assets to provide the youth councils with a menu of options and support structures for how to do the work,鈥� says Kay. Haver agrees, adding that partnerships with subject matter experts and other youth climate leaders were also vital to his council鈥檚 biggest successes. 

As global temperatures continue to rise, empowering young people and fostering relationships between the current and the next generation of climate experts, activists, and policymakers are more critical than ever before. 鈥淏eing able to bring youth to the decision-making table and have our voices heard in a very legitimate and credible way really does elevate this intergenerational partnership for environmental justice,鈥� says Haver.

This originally appeared at  and is published here in partnership with the .

The study, circulated as by the National Bureau of Economic Research, represents the latest evidence pointing to some charters as institutions that strengthen civic engagement. A that focused on North Carolina schools found lasting benefits to traditionally underserved students, including more frequent voting and reduced criminality, who attended a charter secondary school rather than a traditional public school.

And both echo the findings of of the civics-focused Democracy Prep charter schools. Graduates of the network, which operates over 20 schools across five states, were 12 percentage points more likely to vote in the 2016 presidential election than similar students, according to that study, and substantially more likely to be registered as voters.聽

Sarah Cohodes, an economist at Columbia University鈥檚 Teachers College and a co-author of the Boston paper, noted that the voting effects she found were about half as large as those generated by Democracy Prep 鈥� six percentage points of increased voting likelihood, from a status quo of 35 percent 鈥� and that she measured no impact on registration. But a network like Democracy Prep, which persistently emphasizes civic participation and demands that students demonstrate mastery over multiple democratic skills, might be expected to lift voter participation, Cohodes added.

鈥淭his [research] is showing that even if you have a school where civics isn鈥檛 the mission, but you are still instilling more general skills 鈥� executive function, conscientiousness 鈥� alongside academic skills, that spills over into voting,鈥� she said.

Cohodes and co-author James Feigenbaum, a professor of economics at Boston University, gathered student records from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, along with lottery reports and voter records. The academic data included a battery of student demographic information, as well as performance metrics on state standardized tests, Advanced Placement course enrollment, SAT-taking, and college enrollment and persistence. Their sample included 12 Boston charters that enrolled students who were at least 18 years old at the time of the 2016 U.S. elections.

They then matched those records with Massachusetts voter files drawn from 2012, 2015, and 2018 (as well as files from nearby states New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine, to account for out-of-state moves).聽

Like many other studies of charter school effectiveness, the analysis relies on the lottery mechanism that randomly assigns admissions to Boston鈥檚 heavily oversubscribed charter sector. Lottery 鈥渨inners鈥� (students who are ultimately enrolled in the charters) are broadly similar to lottery 鈥渓osers鈥� in terms of racial and ethnic background, socioeconomic status, and prior academic performance.

After comparing the two sets of data, the authors found that charter attendance increased students鈥� incidence of voting in their first presidential election after turning 18 by about 17 percent. That effect is particularly noteworthy because the study found that charter attendance did not seem to increase voter registration, as one of the biggest procedural barriers preventing people from turning out on Election Day.

But within those results, an even more striking pattern emerged: The average increase in voting is the result of an especially large boost to female charter students 鈥� 12.5 percentage points 鈥� and no corresponding rise among males. That outcome generally mirrors , which have increasingly shown females outvoting males in recent years.聽

To isolate a possible explanation for the gender split, the authors studied the various ways in which Boston charters affected their pupils compared with traditional public schools, including academic aptitude (measured through test scores), civic skills (measured through enrollment in an AP government or U.S. history class), and non-cognitive abilities (measured through school attendance and a student鈥檚 decision to take the SAT). Ultimately, the third category was the only realm in which a similar gender disparity existed, showing significant increases for girls compared with boys.

That detail is reminiscent of research conducted by political scientist John Holbein, who has found that high school students who are more likely to describe themselves as gritty are also more frequent voters. The link between non-cognitive skills like grit and persistence and voting propensity could be due to the obstacles that often stand in the way of filling out a ballot, Cohodes argued.

鈥淵ou have to register, you have to find your polling place, you have to make your plan for getting there and getting off of work,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd then you actually have to show up and do it all. That involves persistence and follow-through, and…that鈥檚 where I see those schools coming in.”

It鈥檚 unclear whether charter schools in Boston are aiding the cultivation of such follow-through in female, but not male, students 鈥� or, perhaps, that they are burnishing those qualities in equal measure, but that boys begin school already far behind their female classmates. In either instance, Cohodes concluded, the findings provide more reason to think that the civic聽byproducts of charter schooling could be as consistent as their academic effects, which have largely been shown to be replicable across different settings and charter models.

鈥淚 do think it鈥檚 a different dimension of skill from academics, so it鈥檚 not necessarily the case that the schools that are bringing up test scores the most are also bringing up voting the most. But the things that Boston charters do are also things that KIPP schools do, that STRIVE charters and others do. So it鈥檚 not like it鈥檚 something that鈥檚 totally out of left field.鈥�