There was a big flap when it was reported that teens are going to be trained to drive big rigs. Why? Because truck drivers are retiring in droves as a result of restrictive Covid regulations. Something Mayor Pete and President Joe didn't think about.
But in our history, teens have played an active and meaningful role.
In 1777, a 16-year-old Sybil Ludington volunteered to help her father, commander of the Loyalists in Duchess County. She rode, at night 40 miles on horseback to warn the Loyalist militiamen of a planned attack by British Gen.William Tryon on Danbury, Connecticut.
Her action saved munitions and stores for the entire region that were stored there.
If you read about her in Wikipedia, however, you are told that "one prominent historian questioned whether these events occurred;" that the Loyalists in Danbury already knew the British were coming; and that "as an individual, she represents American's persistent need to find and create heroes who embody prevalent attitudes and beliefs."
I bet this "prominent historian" Paula Hunt would have been pleased with pulling down historical statutes today, just as the Daughters of the American Revolution said the evidence was not strong enough to support their criteria for this teen being a war heroine, and then removed a book about her from their bookstore.
Hang tough.