The horrific Valentine’s Day massacre at a Florida high school has spawned a new wave of activism among youthful Americans. Many, while still too young to vote, are at least for now determined to help produce positive change in the political, legal, and cultural course of the United States. And why not? The vast majority of them will live out their lives here, and a committed, driven, and elite few will likely end up running the place.

That said, even sincere, determined, and passionate young people have little chance of bringing about meaningful change in national firearm laws in the immediate future. An exceptionally effective, well-funded gun lobby has plenty of experience making legislators cower, not to mention deflecting even discussing stronger gun-related statutes. “Hopes and prayers,” “Now’s not the time,” and “It’s a mental health issue, not a gun issue” are the same platitudes America heard after Sandy Hook, Blacksburg, Las Vegas, Orlando, Sutherland Springs, Binghamton, Fort Hood, Aurora, Charleston, and dozens of other mass shootings.

Gun laws appropriate for Chicago, New York, and other densely-populated urban milieus would be far too restrictive for hunters, target shooters, and other firearm enthusiasts in Wyoming, the Dakotas, or northern Maine, just as regulations suitable for rural America would be utterly insufficient in inner cities or other areas where gun-related crime occurs far too frequently.

Another reason adolescent dissidents are unlikely to bring about meaningful change anytime soon: sadly, no politician ever lost an election by underestimating the impact of young voters, who historically just don’t show up in numbers even approaching those of older Americans. The Pew Research Center reported only 46 percent of eligible voters aged 18-29 cast ballots in the 2016 presidential election. In contrast, 72 percent of those aged 71 and older voted, which in a nutshell explains why most elected officials lose little sleep over placating Americans under 21, and none at all on accommodating those under 18.

However, none of that should deter youthful activists from staying involved. It took nearly two centuries for America to codify basic civil rights, and several decades more before those laws became enforceable. And the necessity of the Black Lives Matter movement is evidence the battle for true equality is an ongoing one.

If young, progressive activists truly want more than just condescending encouragement from older generations, they (and we) would be better served if they started affecting change locally. Earth Day is this month, and many students justifiably enraged over school safety issues are at least as concerned with ecological ones. The current administration is gutting the Environmental Protection Agency; the EPA’s head has no more interest in protecting the environment than the equally misplaced current Secretary of Education has in funding public schools.

At several area high schools administrators are wrestling with the problem of insufficient parking. The reason: more and more students are taking personal vehicles to school, rather than using readily-available taxpayer-funded public transportation. Fewer than 20 percent of the seniors who attend the high school where I teach ride the bus to and from school, a ratio similar to the one at the school my own children attend.

Diesel-burning school buses generate significant pollution, but not nearly as much as the collective exhaust belched out by the numerous private vehicles students drive to and from school each day.

There are many good reasons for commuting individually to and from school. Being involved in an extracurricular activity like interscholastic athletics is one, as is after-school employment, or having an off-campus internship during school hours. But a slew of students drive simply for the sake of convenience; they’d prefer to sleep later, or perhaps avoid what is for too many the all-too-real social stigma attached to riding the long, yellow “loser cruiser.”

Any licensed driver has the right to lawfully utilize their car as he or she pleases, just as any citizen who has filled out the appropriate paperwork can legally buy and use an assault rifle. But if youthful environmental activists truly want to begin making an impact now, they’ll start getting in the habit of sacrificing some convenience, getting up a little earlier, and lessening their personal carbon footprint by taking the bus.

Gun laws need reforming, health care should be affordable, and black lives do indeed matter. But proactive young people committed to bettering their nation must do more than just talk the talk. And while protest marches and walking out of class to advocate for school safety are an admirable start, walking the walk to the bus stop (or, if possible, directly to school) would be a far more effective and meaningful method of activism.