September 2006

Editor's Note: We're Looking for Young Heroes

Last March, I wrote a column about teaching our children to “do their nearest duty,” referring to John McCain and Mark Salter’s book, Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life. The thought has stayed with me through the year, and I’ve been thinking about ways we can recognize children and young people who reach beyond their own comfort zones to help others.

We have decided that Seattle’s Child will honor Young Heroes at the end of this year – using Webster’s third definition of a hero, “any person admired for his or her qualities or achievements and regarded as an ideal or model.”

What kinds of young people are we talking about?

I can illustrate with the story of 15-year-old Laura D’Asaro. Passing by the playground at Matthews Beach in north Seattle, she saw that it did not have as many toys as it did when she was a child. She did her “nearest duty” and more, spending two hours of many summer days making cookies and lemonade to sell to people on the Burke-Gilman trail. She stayed at her lemonade stand for nine hours a day this past summer, and made about $10,000. She has been meeting with community members and Seattle Parks and Recreation officials to plan improvements.

For the five years that I have been associate editor and editor, and well before that, we have profiled outstanding kids in our December issues. This past year, we introduced you to Patrick Lease, who battled back from nearly fatal Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis with extraordinary spirit to become the Jingle Bell Run Honoree. We honored Megan Johnson, who, despite having 23 surgeries to correct a birth defect, has crafted homemade blankets and raised money for warm hats and socks for homeless people in downtown Seattle for the past five holiday seasons. We also told you about Tara Sodoma, who has been collecting nonperishable food for Hopelink at Halloween for four years.

In previous years, you’ve sent us stories about children supporting a school in Kenya, baking homemade dog biscuits for the Humane Society, giving up birthday presents and asking party guests to bring donations for needy children, working at food banks and helping out with Red Cross Disaster Relief efforts. A young man raised thousands of dollars, single-handedly, to help build transitional housing for homeless men. And numerous children reached out in compassion after Hurricane Katrina, 911 and the Southeast Asian tsunami.

There’s something most of these stories have in common: The impetus did not come from adults, but from the children themselves. They saw a need – their nearest duties – their hearts were touched, they figured out a way to help, and they carried it through.

The word “hero,” like the word “courage” has been devalued in our society, according to McCain and Salter, because it is over-used. We’d like to reinstate some of that value by recognizing children and teens who have truly done something extraordinary, something inspiring, often without desiring recognition and often for a long period of time.

Please fill in the nomination form below and return it to Editor, Seattle’s Child, 511 2nd Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119, by Oct. 15, 2006. (You can write a longer description of the young person’s actions if you’d like to.) You may also nominate a young person online, by writing to nweditor@seattleschild.com and typing “Young Hero Nomination” on the subject line.

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Seattle's Child, a publication of the Washington Post Company
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