To Save America’s Youth, Institute a National Year of Service

Plus, a couple of thoughts on the College Football Playoffs.

You can’t unring a bell. In this case, the rung bell is the mass distribution of smartphones and social media apps to America’s youth. Not only do kids “need” their smartphones, but many parents too have become accustomed to having 24/7 access to their kids. I remember going an entire day without my parents knowing where I was, who I was with, or what I was doing in the 1980s. Heck, I remember when my two oldest kids in the pre-smartphone days were out and about without me being able to contact them. Are our kids really better off being tied to smartphones all day, every day?

With the mass distribution of smartphones and social media apps to our kids, we are raising a generation who believes whatever it is they are doing is of the utmost importance (see countless pictures and videos posted showing them doing pretty much nothing) AND gratification should be instantaneous (stream all episodes now; gets likes of posts immediately; wifi is a human need, not want). How many parents have watched a group of kids sitting next to each other not talking in real life, as they interact over social media? This reality is why many of them find it hard to establish deep, meaningful relationships with peers; struggle to date; have mental health issues; and spend so much time alone in their kids caves on a perfectly sunny, warm day. Teen suicide rates have increased along with smartphone adoption. That should be a red flag, yet it isn’t.

Pointedly, if America is forced to go to war when today’s youth are in their twenties, do you have any faith they would or could ditch their smartphones, pick up a weapon, and fight for their own freedom? I don’t.

Though I rarely find something that former U.S. Senator John McCain said or did once he came back from Vietnam that I agree with, his belief that Americans must always focus on “serving a cause greater than yourself” is right. Our Founding Fathers and Revolutionary War soldiers did. The 700,000 men who died fighting the Civil War did. The 110,000 men who died fighting World War I did. The 405,000 men who died fighting World War 2 did. As did the men who died in Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere fighting or protecting America. How can we ingrain the idea of serving a NOBLE cause greater than yourself to America’s youth?

One concrete way is to require every American to spend a year in national service after graduating from or dropping out of high school. That service doesn’t have to mean picking up a gun—though in Israel they do—it could mean a variety of activities all aimed at imbuing our kids with a purpose beyond themselves, their smartphones, and social media apps. Here are few ideas on what the one year of national service could be:

(1) Work in support of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in back office roles to allow more rank-and-file officers to do their job of securing the borders and finding, apprehending, and deporting illegal immigrants;

(2) Work in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conserve, protect, and enhance wildlife and habitats;

(3) Work in support of the National Park Service to make sure all of our national parks and monuments are in the best shape possible for visitors;

(4) Work in support of one of our military branches in back office roles to allow members of the military to focus on protecting America;

(5) Work in support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure our food supply is safe and secure;

(6) Work in support of state election officials to ensure voter roles are accurate and up-to-date;

(7) Work in support of the U.S. Department of Transportation to repair and replace aging infrastructure;

(8) Work in support of the Environmental Protection Agency to make sure America’s land, air, and water are being protected and cleaned;

(9) Work in support of the Medicaid program to provide educational support to recipients who need it and to help those not working to find work; and

(10) Work in support of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to build and to repair houses for America’s poor.

These ideas are just a few roles that America’s youth can serve in to teach them about things bigger than themselves. Many of these roles could be part of apprentice programs that teach vital skills that can be used after the year is up. We should not allow working for a nonprofit to qualify as national service given the vast abuse by the Left in using non-profits to do voter outreach, free speech suppression, and other partisan activities. We also should not allow citizens to opt out of the national service program except if they are already doing a year or more of service for their religions. Perhaps this exemption will spur more religious groups to launch national mission services for their members graduating from high school. College, trade school, and blue collar work can wait one year. As anyone who has worked for twenty years or more knows, it is overrated, as there are more important things in life than the daily grind.

In addition to being paid, for those who go to college or trade school, part of the national service program could be earning tuition like the Pell Grant to apply towards school. Most eighteen-year-olds could use a year off to mature after high school, so this program would do that while exposing them to bigger issues. For those seeking blue collar work or who drop out of high school early, the national service program would give them a chance to learn new skills to ensure that the path they’ve chosen is the right one for them and come with an accomplishment bonus equal to the tuition provided to college bound participants. For those who’ve run afoul of the law, a change of scenery just might allow them to escape the dysfunction in their lives and get a fresh start.

Yes, I know parents of kids in high-performing schools and their kids will oppose this idea because Harvard just can’t wait, but colleges would be required to allow all accepted students to defer their start for the year they are in the national service program. Climbing the corporate ladder, becoming a partner in a white shoe law firm, and becoming board certified in brain surgery can all be postponed for a year. Mormon boys go on their missions for two years and Mormon girls do a mission for one year. Israelis are required to do thirty-two months (men) and twenty-four months (women) at age eighteen. Those two groups produce some of the most successful leaders and innovators in the world. Perhaps there is something to giving time to your religion or country (i.e., something bigger than yourself) that makes you a better, more resilient person.

P.S. Let me say a word on the College Football Playoff (CFP) system. I won’t mention any team by name in terms of arguing whether they should or should not earn a CFP birth. The points I want to make are two-fold: first, I think all polling should not start until the sixth game of the season. Each year presents different challenges, so past performance by a previous team is no indication that said team will perform similarly. This reality is especially the case in the portal and NIL era when players can move around as often as they want, which means last year’s team might not be quite the same. Best example: in 2024, the preseason poll had Florida State ranked tenth. FSU went 2-10 last year. Second best example: Clemson was ranked fourth in this year’s preseason ranking. Clemson finished this year 7-5. Let’s give every team the chance to play six weeks before “experts” decide the first rankings. Ranking too early obviously always benefits known programs, which are artificially ranked higher than they might deserve. Should they lose a game or two early then run the table, their artificially high preseason ranking prevents them from falling too low in the rankings so they can climb high enough to secure a CFP bid. That seems unfair to the lesser known programs who start out unranked, but then go 11-1 but can never move high enough to make the CFP.

Secondly, I think the term “ranked X when they played” should be banned from college football. Again, does it really matter that Clemson was ranked fourth when it lost to Louisiana State University? Is that really a quality win? Isn’t it more important to look back at the end of the season to determine how the teams each team beat ended up doing across an entire season? This aspect goes to the strength of schedule issue. Is a 10-1 team who didn’t beat any teams ranked in the top twenty at the end of the season really better than a 9-3 team that lost two games to top ten ranked teams, but also won three games against top ten ranked teams? Look at the ESPN rankings below that combine rankings, Football Power Index (measures team’s true strength on net points scale; expected point margin vs average opponent on neutral field), and strength of schedule. If you are a Texas or Vanderbilt fan, you might be pretty frustrated that you are outside the CFP ranking looking in (before this weekend’s wins) while Notre Dame and Miami are ahead of you. Texas’ big win over undefeated and third ranked Texas A&M only resulted in it moving up two spots in the AP poll, as Vanderbilt’s thumping of Tennessee saw it DROP a spot in the AP poll. How will the CFP committee react to this weekend’s results?

You may think the current system works because it protects your known program, but the focus should be on selecting the top twelve best teams based on each team’s entire body of work. Do we really want another 38-10 Penn State over SMU shellacking in the playoffs? Keep in mind, last year, the lower ranked teams won seven out of eleven CFP games, including EVERY GAME after the first round. That result seems to be screaming that the current system isn’t working.