What Do We Do?

Folks at the kitchen like to talk about the horrible things in the world. I don't think its good to bury one's head in the sand, but how do you even start to try to fix what's gone wrong?
I heard a piece on NPR the other day about teachers cheating on standardized tests on behalf of students, and the experts proposed a number of possible solutions: have someone else proctor the tests, make it harder to cheat. There was no mention that perhaps standardized tests were not an effective measure of educational success, that ideas and solutions will take us farther than answers, especially multiple choice ones. This is how I feel about all the world's ills, I feel like we aren't even asking the right questions, but at least I am glad that people are asking something!
I've been thinking a lot about the picture of the world that most young people are exposed to. Its like they only have a, b, c, and d to choose from when considering their own lives and futures. Even when we tell them they can be anything they want, how can they choose something they don't even know exists? I never thought I would be 37 and have no idea where my life was going, but how many people did I know as a child who where contented wanderers?