This article argues that there is an important difference between educating children about the world's problems and recruiting them into causes. Issues such as climate change, refugees, human rights, war and genocide involve profound moral dilemmas, competing interests and unintended consequences that children may not yet have the experience or emotional maturity to navigate. At a time when youth mental-health indicators are already deeply concerning—40% of U.S. high-school students reported persistent sadness or hopelessness in 2023 and 20% seriously considered suicide —we should be particularly cautious about burdening children with responsibility for solving global crises. The goal of education should instead be to develop compassionate, questioning and independently minded young people: teach them about the world's problems, but give them the childhood, knowledge and intellectual freedom to decide for themselves, when they are older, which causes they choose to fight for.