218. Heroes

We like to have heroes. When I was in elementary school, George Washington was one of the great people we were supposed to admire. As far as I can remember, one of the most important things he did was confess to a minor misdeed that didn’t seem so bad to me. I never chopped down any cherry trees myself, so I never had the chance to prove myself the way George did. I guess you have to be in the right place at the right time to achieve greatness. I once cheated on a math test. I looked at Steve Arbogast’s paper, and I’m confessing it now in public. I hope that counts; I’m sure I couldn’t chop down a cherry tree now.
As long as we are going to turn people into heroes, we might as well give some thought to it. Today I witnessed a lesson about Martin Luther King. Children heard about the bus boycott, the “I Have a Dream” speech, and the Nobel Peace Prize he won. They heard his voice speaking the words that inspired so many.
I remember Harry Truman’s reaction to King. A reporter asked him what he thought of King. Truman said, “He’s a troublemaker.” When the reporter reminded Truman that King had just received the Nobel Peace Prize, he responded, “I didn’t give it to him.” Somehow, some people have come to think of Truman as another hero.
I am now friends with someone who has long been one of my heroes. When I first met him, I was star-struck, and as I spoke with him, it was all I could do to stop myself from thinking, “Here I am, having a friendly conversation with someone who has always been my hero.” That kind of thinking can get in the way of real communication.
I imagine Martin Luther King stopping by my apartment for a visit. My first reaction to him would be to tell him what a profound affect he’s had on my thinking – how greatly I admire his life of work for freedom, peace, and justice. I imagine him finding that admiration a bit tedious, and maybe asking me what I’ve done as a result of all this admiration. Or maybe he’d ask about the photographs on my wall, or ask for a drink of water.
Heroes are people. About half of them are female, and should be called “heroines,” I guess. As we create heroes and heroines for children, I think it would be helpful to focus on heroic actions and qualities. Children ought to know that these actions and qualities leave lasting impressions.
Children often seek out heroes, and whether their heroes chop down cherry trees, work for freedom, peace, and justice, or pitch no-hitters, it’s good to help them focus on the qualities and deeds they admire. That focus makes heroism more accessible. I believe that there’s some heroism in most people.

Similar Posts

  • 72. Exuberance

    ByJoe Oliverio

    I’ve been waiting for the right moment to write about coping with children’s exuberance. I wanted to pick a moment when I was feeling exuberant, and could think about how it might be difficult for other people to deal with me. But as most writers know, ecstatic moments don’t make you feel like sitting around…

  • 39. Divorce

    ByJoe Oliverio

    As I begin this article on divorce, I’m nervous. It’s an important subject. I know things about divorce from my own experience, from my adult friends’ experiences, and from my work with children. I got familiar with the effects on children of unhappy marriages and divorces well before I got familiar with their effects on…

  • 270. My Khmer Hour

    ByJoe Oliverio

    Each week, I spend an hour in a small room with seven children whose first language was Khmer, and their teacher, whose first language was also Khmer. She teaches them to read and write Khmer. At first, I didn’t think I’d have much of a role to play in this class. I know two Khmer…

  • 479. Jimmy

    ByJoe Oliverio

    Once in a while, I try to imagine what’s going on in a particular child’s mind. Today I thought about a child whom we’ll call Jimmy. Jimmy is slow. He’s a third grader who doesn’t really know all of the letters of the alphabet yet, and there are many other things most third graders know…