KOSA is not dead. Parents will keep it alive.

In more than four decades of involvement in government, politics, and public policy, I have encountered countless challenges, but few have been as infuriating as the resistance to action on two issues critical to preventing youth suicide and saving lives I’ve seen over the past 18 months.

Entrenched political opposition, institutional resistance, status quo thinking, and dogmatic experts have repeatedly thwarted these efforts, even in the face of clear and present dangers to young people.

Yesterday, it became official: the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) will not pass this session of Congress. The anger, frustration, betrayal, sorrow, and fear felt by parents who have lost children to social media-fueled suicides is palpable. These parents—already carrying unimaginable grief—have poured their hearts into this fight, pleading with policymakers to act not to bring back their own children, but to prevent other parents from enduring the same loss.

Last week, I stood in Washington, D.C., among Moms and Dads whose courage and conviction have sustained this legislation. These parents, armed only with their stories and the pictures of children they’ve lost, faced policymakers and multi-billion-dollar institutions, saying simply: Enough.

As the CEO of SAVE— SAVE - Suicide Awareness Voices of Education —I share their anger and resolve. Shortly after I took this role, SAVE joined this fight alongside hundreds of organizations, raising our collective voices to demand action. Yet despite overwhelming Senate support (a 91-3 vote), KOSA was stopped in its tracks in the House—victimized by Big Tech and its allies.

This is the worst of corporate America: profiteering from the pain inflicted on children. Big Tech has found allies in "expert" organizations funded by the very companies whose products are killing kids. Together, they’ve derailed a bill that holds Big Tech accountable and makes social media safer for young people.

The fight for KOSA is not unique. Across the country, the battle to save lives often faces the same barriers of resistance and inertia. Whether the issue is online safety or physical safety, the challenges are strikingly similar.

Case in point is a Mom in Minnesota who lost her daughter to suicide on a public structure. Rising from her grief, she demanded change—fighting entrenched opposition, institutional apathy, and dismissive experts to install a simple, lifesaving fence. Before Thanksgiving, a temporary, temporary fence went up. Lives are being saved because she refused to take “no” for an answer.

Equally challenging are those who have spent decades positioning themselves as experts in suicide prevention yet remain fixated on their own dogma, established ideas and personal recognition. Too often, they resist new approaches or bold solutions that go against their opinions or methods, even when the evidence demands action. This fixation on being “right” rather than making progress has become an obstacle to real change. Whether it’s barriers on bridges or holding Big Tech accountable, the reluctance to adapt, take risks, and support innovation in these life-saving efforts mirrors the same resistance we’ve faced in advancing KOSA.

Resistance to change by institutions, experts, and dogma is no match for the determination of people who refuse to accept the status quo.

This is how change happens in America: because people make it happen. Movements begin with passion and purpose, facing down headwinds from those threatened by change.

The parents fighting for KOSA have faced platitudes like “something must be done” and the insult of bromides like “we need to get this right”—as though perfection is required before saving lives.

Get it right for who? Big Tech?

No. We need to get it right for kids.

Kids are being abused, tormented, and killed on social media. These platforms profit from that suffering. Let’s be clear: protecting the First Amendment does not mean protecting corporations that profit from killing children. The First Amendment is a shield for parents demanding accountability, not for companies that exploit kids.

KOSA isn’t dead—it’s waiting. Waiting for a new Congress and for parents who refuse to give up. They will not stop fighting to save lives on social media. Nor will SAVE.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

In the face of immense power and wealth, it is the resolve of ordinary people that drives extraordinary change. History proves that movements rooted in justice for all ultimately prevail over opposition fueled by money and power