Reduce the count by one

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one in the room that cares
I'm the only one in the room that feels like time and energy are being wasted
I thought I could change it all, save them from themselves
Make them me, ambitious, caring, aware, successful
But their success is not measured in degrees, in awards, in accolades.
It is measured in laughs, giggles, and more often than not wasted time.
I wonder if it will ever click in their growing minds that their futures depend on how they do in high school
I wonder if they realize that in OUR time, a high school degree means nothing
Only when someone pays for you to go to school do people pull your resume from the bottom of the stack.
That readers are writers are thinkers and solvers.
I wonder what they will be doing in 7 years when they are my age.
Will they be graduating from college?
Will they still be attending finishing up some ambitious degree?
Will they be flipping burgers or doing a job that requires no skills past 8th grade?
Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's sad when that's their only option.
I want them to have options, but in reality I spend 90 mins with them and I have very little influence or power over how they spend the rest of their time, let alone the 90 minutes.
Sometimes I feel like reducing the count of the people who care by one.