Towards Liberation

The idea that young people need love feels as familiar and comforting as a sweatshirt. It’s a mindset I put on every day as I head to work. The letter says, 'If you be love, as a teacher; then what you model is the belief—through the everyday things you do.' Each day, I witness how students require gentleness and care, and how often their emotional needs for safety and belonging are not being met. As adults, acknowledging that creating an environment where students feel love 'demands conflict, tears, and hurt' is powerful. It can be challenging because many of us realize we never received authentic love and care in an educational setting ourselves. This can trigger feelings that are difficult to grasp, understand, or implement due to a lack of experience in that area.

At the same time, striving to create educational spaces where students feel genuinely loved and valued opens the door to liberation. These spaces allow young people to be authentically themselves—free to feel, emote, wonder, and challenge—without the constant pressure to conform to a system’s standards and expectations of what is 'appropriate' or 'acceptable' behavior. The statement 'It’s hard to learn freedom inside a cage' carries such weight. We often teach children to conform at home, in school, and in afterschool programs, and for those who don’t easily comply, they may seek freedom in ways that only create another type of cage—just made from different materials. Young people must learn what true freedom means in every sense of the word to grow into free-thinking, creative change-makers. Of course, they need structure and clear limits, but even within those frameworks, we have a responsibility to encourage and cultivate freedom, love, and joy in the students we serve. Educational freedom—the right to learn in ways that best suit each individual—is something every young person deserves. Yet, as inspiring as this vision sounds, it sometimes feels like a distant dream because of the immense barriers posed by the titan we call the United States educational system, which often fails to prioritize what is truly best for our children. Despite these challenges, I constantly remind myself of the power of a ripple. With enough time, effort, and consistency, that ripple can grow into a tidal wave of change. The future we envision for our youth—a future where they are empowered, equipped, and capable of defying the odds stacked against them—can and will become a reality if we continue to pour into them and provide them with the tools to succeed.