Thank you. I'm sorry. The two things I really want to tell young changemakers.

Thank you. I'm sorry.

Those were the two thoughts I shared with Ra'mya last June.

It was days after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and during a period of escalating gun violence in Washington, DC. Ra'mya had just been quoted in The Washington Post, calling on elected officials to act.

At the time Ra'mya, a LearnServe International alumna, was a graduating senior at Thurgood Marshall Academy . After losing classmates as well as her godbrother to gun violence, she joined her school's Pathways 2 Power program to advocate for policy change.

"Similar to the shooting in Texas, what happens in D.C. should motivate Congress to do something," Ra'mya urged in the Post interview.

Thank you, I confided to Ra'mya after reading the article, for speaking out and calling for action on such a critical topic.

And sorry, I added, for all the ways we adults have failed you - and every other young person in this country.

We adults have allowed gun violence, trauma, and fear to pervade their lives - and then have left them with the unfair additional burden of feeling responsible for solving this problem.

I was reminded of my conversation with Ra'mya earlier this week, when Jefferson Luna-Perez, a 17-year-old student at Roosevelt High School, was shot in the parking lot of his school. (I'll pause to let that sink in for a moment: 17-year-old. Shot and killed. At his school.)

This struck particularly close to home. Roosevelt High School is two blocks from where my conversation with Ra'mya took place last June. It is around the block from my son's elementary school, and 5 blocks from where we live. Roosevelt High School is a close LearnServe partner, and I've worked with a number of Roosevelt students over the years.

More troubling: this feels more like the rule than the exception to the rule.

Since January, 43 young people under the age of 18 have been shot, and 7 of them killed, in Washington, DC. (Source: Washington Post). It's only May.

As I was facilitating an online workshop for DC high school students just this morning, one school went into lockdown because a gun was found in the building. Another student at that same school found out that her brother had been shot and killed. In a conversation with LearnServe Fellows earlier this year, nearly every student in the room knew of someone affected by gun violence.

Teachers have shared that students are traumatized, desensitized, and imploding all at the same time. That combination of fear, trauma, disappointment, and anxiety doesn't go away easily.

We're making it hard for kids to be kids, another of my LearnServe students, J., explained in making the case for her venture. They don't have safe spaces to play outside. It's not safe for them to walk to the pool or rec center. Neighbors are afraid to gather for a communal meal. They don't trust that the police will protect them. They don't always feel safe in their own homes.

In reflections she shared shortly after her year in LearnServe, J. lamented, "Change is yet to come."

I have spent my entire professional career helping young people discover and channel their power to create change. But sometimes I wish I didn't have to.

The challenges today's young people are facing are heavy, they're personal, and they're not going away. Gun violence. Climate change. Racism, homophobia, and transphobia. The list goes on.

My LearnServe students have taken these issues on with patience, creativity, and grace. (In case you missed it, Yasmine Arrington Brooks was selected as a CNN Hero for her work on behalf of Children of Incarcerated Parents, and three recent alumni were featured on NBC4 in DC, including Rowan who has chosen to take on rape culture at the high school level.)

In addition to her advocacy around gun violence, Ra'mya has designed and piloted a curriculum on African American history and culture. She is now a student at Howard University. (You can read more about Ra'mya here.)

And J. graduates from college this weekend with a double major in Spanish and criminal justice - with plans to study law and open her own community-based non-profit.

Ra'mya, J., Yasmine, and Rowan are just four among thousands of bright examples of what is possible. I am so grateful for the inspiration and impact they bring to the world.

And yet... I wish they didn't have to worry about these things. I wish they could learn, play, and live their lives without the weight of the world resting on their shoulders. Without them having to wonder, if I don't take this on, who will?

In too many ways, we adults are continuing to fail our young people.

We have left our most vulnerable and most empathetic young people with dual, unfair burdens: (1) the trauma of the violence and injustice they have experienced in their own lives, and (2) the weight of responsibility for making it right, because the adults in charge haven't figured out how.

Thankfully for all of us there are plenty of young people ready and eager to accept the challenge.

So adults, if we can't make it right for them, let's do the next best thing: As young people take the lead, let's listen, let's support, and then let's get out of the way.