I think the biggest things to focus on are aviation opportunities other than airlines and ways that you can work and be able to enjoy flying on the side. What fun is it being a slave running passengers all day from point A to point B, restricted to ATC routes and clearances? Very quickly that gets boring. If that's what you love, then great, but I love the freedom of flying, and I don't have to be an airline pilot to enjoy that. As the airline industry and opportunties are dying off, we are seeing the entire "machine" start to slow down and grind to a halt. Yes, there needs to be a reason to get trained and become a proficient pilot. There need to be opportunities. There aren't as many of them now compared to how many people want them, especially in the areas they want them (airline pilot). Don't be an ass to your students and be filled with negativity every day, but also honestly tell them about the state of the industry and how it really works (or doesn't) these days. We tend to think that "they'll just figure it out" or "they are responsible for knowing what they are getting into", but you can't blame these people that simply don't have the information or understand what we know. It's not fair, and then at the end they think you just tried to steal their money, which isn't true, but there is some responsibility to let people know the state of the industry and how it's changed over the last 20-30 years.
Loving aviation doesn't mean you have to work for an airline. Figure out a way to ENJOY aviation, not necessarily making a living doing that work.