About one in 10 high schools in America graduates 67 percent or less. In more than 800 of these schools, graduating is a 50-50 proposition for students. And on average, nearly three of every four students in these schools are students of color.

Although racial inequity in student debt is a complex issue with no easy answers, education leaders and policymakers must take steps to reduce borrowing before students get to college, as well as to protect borrowers after they graduate.

Maybe blood will drip from the back of my knees, maybe the stain on my shirt will be seen, maybe God will come down and work this problem out for me and I can give Mrs. Smith all the answers she hopes to beat out of me.

Finding ways to better help young people succeed in life is a constant pursuit for communities, practitioners, and policymakers, and one that requires us all to take what we at the Center for Promise call a youth systems approach.

[Some] students report they are still being removed from their classes, even if those removals are no longer being called suspensions. By simply eliminating suspension without providing anything in its place, students aren’t given access to any additional support or resources, and teachers lose autonomy and control over their own classrooms.

Why does being suspended or expelled increase the odds that a student will drop out of school? A few months ago, my research team and I at the Center for Promise published a report about the impact exclusionary discipline policies have on students, which helped us answer this question.

Over the past few months, there have been a series of articles, books, and materials by thought-leaders both in and outside of the youth development sector that help underscore the centrality of relationships in a young person’s life.

As millions of young people begin a new school year, many parents and adults are no doubt worried about how well they’ll fare. From concerns about screen time to college and career readiness, there are plenty of headlines that fret over the well-being of young people.

A preponderance of research shows that suspensions and expulsions do little to change behavior and can push students out of school altogether. For instance, being suspended just one time in the ninth grade is related to an increased risk of dropping out. Suspension can increase the chance of leaving school prior to graduation from 16 percent to a 32 percent.

As a first-generation college student, I found myself doing everything on my own, without any family support and knowing very little of what was entailed in both applying and getting into college.

My main goal in life is to make my generation better and healthier. And for change to happen, we young people have to voice our opinions and make ourselves heard.

For youth to succeed in education, we need a shelter over our heads, we need food in our bodies, and we need a community. So make sure a student’s basic needs are met before you send them to detention or punish them.