Traditional academic measures (tests, grades, benchmarks) no longer capture what thriving looks like. In a world where Gen Z and now Gen Alpha are growing up online, under cultural upheaval, and amid rising anxiety, thriving needs to mean more than just academic performance. It demands mental strength, emotional awareness, and spiritual grounding.

According to the CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 40% of US high‑school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, signaling real emotional distress among Gen Z and soon Gen Alpha cohorts. Parents and educators alike sense this: schools must evolve, and not slowly. With intentional redesign, they can create environments where genuine growth occurs, not just content delivery.


Why the current system doesn’t fit our students

The US school system was built for compliance, content delivery, and conformity. It was designed to produce factory‑line thinkers, not innovators or emotionally mature leaders.

Standardized tests like NAEP focus on what can be easily measured, but they can’t capture spiritual maturity, moral character, or inner peace. And those tests show students are struggling: average NAEP scores for 9‑year‑olds dropped 5 points in reading and 7 points in math from 2020 to 2022, the largest declines in decades. Lower-performing students saw the worst impact.

School should be the safest place for a kid to grow, but it’s often not built that way. Children need more than just content; they need emotional safety, purpose, and a sense of belonging.


What Gen Z and Gen Alpha are actually asking for

Today’s youth won’t settle for a ride on a conveyor belt. They refute wasted time, performance without purpose, and other aspects of learning that garner neither peace nor agency.

What they crave are the simple human experiences prior generations enjoyed: freedom to play, space to think, and time to build relationships. That inner peace becomes a foundation for real impact — purpose without anxiety, freedom without chaos.

Today’s students need experiences that teach emotional self-regulation through play, hands-on learning, feedback loops, and authentic relationships. Schools that truly foster voice, autonomy, and trust consistently show stronger student engagement and outcomes.

Research shows that students are more engaged when they receive both support and challenge. Belonging and relevance are the keys to that engagement.


The power of modeling whole-person leadership

If we want students to grow into emotionally intelligent, grounded, and resilient adults, we need to start by showing them what that looks like. That begins with the adults leading the school.

Administrators, teachers, coaches, and staff all play a role in shaping the culture of a campus. Kids don’t learn character from posters on the wall but from watching how we handle stress, how we treat people who disagree with us, and how we carry the weight of our own responsibilities. They notice if we lose our temper. They remember if we apologize. They mirror what we model.

Whole-person leadership isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being present, accountable, and consistent. When students see adults who are emotionally honest, spiritually grounded, and willing to take responsibility for their choices, it sets a tone. Vulnerability isn’t weakness; it builds trust. Consistency isn’t rigidity; it provides safety.

The simple truth here is that we can’t expect kids to grow in areas we haven’t cultivated in ourselves. If we want them to have strong values, we need to show what it looks like to live by them. If we want them to lead, we need to lead with integrity. If we want them to be responsible, we need to show them that choices have consequences and that weight builds strength.

That’s the kind of leadership that transforms a school from a system into a community. And it’s the kind of leadership every child deserves.


What schools can start doing now

Redesigning education doesn’t require a complete system overhaul overnight. It starts with small, consistent shifts in how we approach daily interactions with students. The goal isn’t to micromanage them or over-accommodate every emotion. It’s to give them opportunities to build real-world strength through responsibility, reflection, and connection. Schools don’t need to be perfect; they just need to be human places where students feel empowered to grow and thrive.

  • Offer real choices, even if it’s just two options, and let students experience the consequences of their decisions.
  • Let them create, teach, and share something meaningful before the class, empowering ownership and reflection.
  • Bridge their life learning and classroom learning; make school part of real life and life part of learning.

These kinds of shifts don’t require massive funding or top-down policy reform. They require intention, consistency, and courage from the adults in the room. When students are allowed to try, stumble, and try again within the safety of a supportive school environment, they learn how to think for themselves, regulate their emotions, and lead others.

Model the same structures with your staff. When teachers feel empowered, supported, and allowed to fail forward, they’re far more equipped to do the same for their students.

That’s how you change a culture: from the inside out. Small changes add up, and they start with leaders willing to lead differently.


It’s time to redesign, not just reform

Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren’t fundamentally different people; they just live in a vastly different world. It's our systems that have shifted and, in doing so, altered their behaviors and worldview.

What worked historically — creating a culture and environment that nurtured resilient, joyful, impactful young leaders — can work again. Instead of piling ideological weights on them, we should re-engineer environments that organically cultivate strength, resilience, and purpose.

Strength doesn’t come from being told you're strong. It comes from physically lifting something heavy, or choosing to take on something hard. Let’s design schools where kids naturally encounter and carry that weight, not avoid it.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha won’t thrive through checklists and test prep. They’ll flourish when they feel seen and safe, when school becomes a place of belonging, purpose, challenge, and growth.

Let’s build schools where every student walks away not only smarter, but stronger. If we build schools that equip kids for life by letting them live life, our youth will be excited about growing up again.


About the author

Justin MacDonald is the Head of The Academy at District Church, where he leads a bold movement to reimagine K–12 education through a Christian, purpose-driven lens. With a background that spans award-winning classroom teaching, varsity coaching, and global leadership, Justin brings a rare blend of frontline experience and strategic vision to the future of school. His goal: to equip students not just for tests, but for life—cultivating independent thinkers, courageous leaders, and resilient, faith-grounded young adults. Before launching The Academy, Justin served as Global Executive (CMO) for African Leadership University and ALX, where he helped build what Fast Company named Africa’s most innovative company. He has also founded and led a national championship football academy and spent over a decade in the classroom teaching English and journalism. He and his wife of 22 years have three sons and have personally experienced nearly every educational model—from homeschool to public school—informing his deep commitment to educational reform.

Today, Justin is a relevant voice in entrepreneurial leadership, alternative education, and the intersection of faith and future-readiness. He’s focused on national awareness for The Academy’s model, where students often launch into college, trades, or business by 16-17 years old. Through media, partnerships, and thought leadership, Justin is helping lead a quiet revolution in education—one rooted in purpose, impact, and timeless values.