Tutoring and Mentoring as Political Acts

Amidst a tsunami of big problems, two small solutions that could pay huge dividends

Are you one of the millions of Americans feeling powerless in the wake of Donald Trump & Elon Musk’s assault on our government institutions, federal workers, international diplomacy, and the U.S. Constitution itself?

If so, might I offer a slightly outside-the-box suggestion for how each of us can reclaim a bit of control and fight back against the forces of disinformation that enabled this mess to begin with.

Tutoring and mentoring.

Granted, neither is particularly sexy in the sense that they won’t fix everything going wrong right now in one fell swoop. But then, I don’t think that solution actually exists.

I get it - people are freaking out and want the unnecessary pain & suffering to end. But if there is no quick fix, what remains are countless small acts that collectively make a big difference over time.

The courts might mitigate some of the worst of what Trump and Musk seek to accomplish, but plenty of bad stuff is going to slip through and we need to be able to push back against the worst of it. The institutions or politicians many are counting on will fail and so we must be ready to do it ourselves. But how?

I’ve seen multiple calls for a general strike, but how effective will that be if it is only the left who does it? MAGA, low-info Trump voters (and I do believe those are different groups), and non-voters are unlikely to join in at this point, so the damage to big corporations would be minimal and mostly only put a target on the back of anyone participating.

What about mass protests? Well, again it would mostly only be the left participating at this point. While I support people’s right to make their voices heard this way, if mass protests became an actual threat to Trump, we would see the armed militias who support him get involved and there would be blood.

The harm being done might necessitate this unpleasant reality at some point, but better for it to be when any grave injuries or loss of life would serve a greater purpose of turning non-voters & low-info voters against Trump. Be honest though, is that likely to happen right now, less than one month into his term? More likely, it would push any wavering supporters back into the MAGA fold.

The day may come, but we’re not there yet.

So, for now, that only leaves small, mostly local solutions to collectively turn the tide. As far as bang for the buck goes, people could do way worse than devoting their time to tutoring or mentoring.

Tutoring is going to be especially critical in the wake of the dissolution of the Department of Education. Think things are bad in schools right now or that people couldn’t become any less educated about how government actually works? Buckle up.

The great thing about tutoring is that it can be done on multiple levels, from individual to institutional.

Have a friend with a kid who could use a little help that their parents are unable to provide for one reason or another? There you go, a way to make a difference right in front of you.

On a larger scale, tutoring can be a tool for organizations to help build support for their mission.

Individuals could volunteer to tutor on behalf of groups whose work they want to support, a two-fer for their time. With this volunteer base, groups could offer tutoring one night a week (or however often), where kids get help with any subject. Maybe do it on a rotating basis (math one week, civics the next, writing after that, and so on). Throw in some pizza and it’s practically a party. Truly though, there is no wrong answer here and every bit helps.

Best of all, while kids are getting the help they need, these groups would have an opportunity to engage with parents, educating them about the organization’s mission or any upcoming actions needing volunteers or material help. Who is more likely to chip in – a person whose kids you are helping or a stranger with whom you have no history?

Even when parents don’t get involved, it’s a chance for more people to learn about the organization and its mission, which is how community gets built…something essential in the months & years to come.

Another way to reach people is through educational presentations. These can be done in either schools or with various types of youth groups (Boy/Girl Scouts, 4H, etc.), educating kids about some subject in which you have some specialized knowledge or are passionate about.

Like tutoring, this is an opportunity to build community and support for whatever issue you seek to champion. However, even if there is no benefit beyond just bringing a little knowledge into kids’ lives, that is more than enough when 20% of Americans read at a 5^th grade level or below, and critical thinking and/or the ability to process evidence are increasingly rare skills. Exposing kids who will be voting in 5-10 years to new ideas or an issue you are passionate about is enough in and of itself.

Living history events are another great way to connect kids (or even adults) with people whose lived experience lie far outside their own, building empathy and tolerance for those of different races or backgrounds. Do I even need to explain why this is so important in the face of Trump’s lies and demagoguery?

Libraries are often happy to host these sorts of events, so a local organization looking to gain membership or support could organize one with minimal cost thanks to the help of a local library, university, or any institution committed to expanding access to learning.

This does not cover all the ways people can use tutoring (or the like) to build community and/or encourage critical thinking. Anything you can imagine is possible and the more we engage in these sorts of community-building activities, the greater the interest likely becomes.

Mentoring, on the other hand, is more personal and generally requires a greater time commitment. However, there is a crisis of toxic masculinity (or patriarchal manhood if you prefer) in many communities that any teacher, coach, or anyone else who regularly deals with young men can likely attest to.

Adult men who have matured past the insecure, needing to constantly prove yourself phase of life, are the best candidates for showing young men that there is another, better way than misogyny, violence, or any of the other toxic traits we see so often exhibited because that is what is primarily being modeled for them…something likely to only get worse during Trump 2.0.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t any young ladies out there who could use mentoring as well, but by almost any measure, young women are doing quite well when compared to young men, which is why the need for male mentors is so much greater. It also shouldn’t take much imagination to understand how everyone - men and women alike - would benefit from this.

Of course, tutoring and/or mentoring are not the only actions people can take in these troubling times. There are many worthy groups doing amazing work at the local level across the country, and I urge you to find one in your own community if you are called to do so.

The point of this is that we don’t usually think of acts like mentoring or tutoring as political, but I would argue that they very much are when education is under attack and young men keep falling further behind.

An autocrat like Trump would never have risen to power in a nation full of well-educated citizens or without a population of angry, frustrated young men looking for someone to blame for their troubles. We can’t fix this overnight, but the longer we wait to start, the longer we will have to continue to suffer the consequences of inaction.

Thank you for reading and please share if you think this is a good idea. Also, feel free to leave a comment below if you know of any groups, either local or nationwide, who are doing this sort of work and could use more volunteers to help in their mission. Thank you!