Teen optimism is at a new low. Are we surprised? The adults in their lives are enraged by the news and social media, the governments all over the world drift into war after war, there is legitimate fear that our environment is at the tipping point, and every day they expect to hear about yet another school shooting. On top of that, the social media landscape is destroying what little self esteem they have, and colleges are taking fewer and fewer applicants. In this episode, Don and Rob try to focus on what is working in public education by comparing it to their experience in the 1980s. Are things really as bad as they seem, or does it just seem that way?