Saturday, February 25, 2012

Real Heroes

   Someone left a comment on my last post about who the real heroes are, and I agree.  When I worked in the children's dept. at my library I would get so saddened when kids came in for a book on their "hero." Here where I live it is a yearly thing for teachers, 4th grade or so, to assign a project....dress up like your favorite hero and bring a book about that person to class.  Kids would come in, tell me what they needed and why, then ask for a book about the most current sports person, musician, fake wrestler.  It really saddened me.  True heroes are soldiers who protect our freedom, fire fighters who run into burning buildings to save a life, police officers who protect our safety, nurses who see us at our very worst and still treat us kindly, EMTs who arrive at wrecks and do everything they can to preserve lives under terrible circumstances.

4 comments:

Sparrow said...

I agree whole heartedly with this! What are they teaching children in schools that they no longer know what a real hero is?

Kate said...

This has been going on forever, sadly. I remember when my eldest (Brine Queen, who's 30 now) was in elementary school and they actually had annual competitions for these hero essay and posters. I remember seeing her posters, Jane Goodall, Rosa Parks and Mary Leakey, standing out against all the singers and athletes. One year she did me... so I considered myself in better company with Jane and Mary than I did hanging on the wall with the Hollywood and sport elite.

There is more to being a hero than rushing into a burning building or standing in the line of fire. Real heros are those who stand in society and make right: whether it's teaching, civil rights activism, making discoveries, or simply being brave enough to be a woman in a "man's job"... there are all kinds of heros.

Anonymous said...

I will forever be indebted to my "hero". An off duty police officer, who saw and stopped at a wreck, held the persons head up to get air in her airway, even though the EMT's said she was dead. Without him I would not have one of my daughters.

Carol said...

Kate, you are right...those are some heroes that I did not think of while writing the post, but who truly are. I used to make suggestions to children....Clara Barton, Rosa Parks, Anne Sullivan, Mother Teresa, along with a long list of other males and females but no, Hulk Hogan or Selena always won out. Linda, I have never heard that part of the story...about an off duty police officer assisting Julie at the wreck. Someone needs to write all the pieces of that story down.