See Also:
Beginning of a FAMOUS Hero: The Rosa Parks Story.
Life Leson #24 – Stand for Something.
There was a lot of meanness going on at 3rd Street Elementary School. Students were picking on other students, calling them names, tripping them in hallways, taking their lunch money, threatening them, and everything else they could think of—until Mr. Morrow, the new principal said, it’s going to stop, and it’s going to stop right now.
Actually, Mr. Morrow was a very nice man, who knew the way people treat each other is extremely important. He decided to have some school assemblies, and at first he would talk to students in the 4th grade through the 6th grade. Then he would talk to younger students. In each assembly he talked about students who hurt other students with their words and actions, AND about students who got hurt. He explained that in any situation like that, there are two kinds of students involved. There are those who hurt others, and there are those who get hurt. Then he said something that surprised everyone. He said, “Did you know that BOTH groups are exactly the same in some ways?!”
Jansen, who had been hurt a lot by some other kids thought, “No way! I’m not anything like them!” But then Mr. Morrow explained that most of the time, the person who does the hurting AND the person GETTING hurt are insecure in knowing what they stand for, and where they are going in life. He said, one uses anger and meanness to deal with insecurity, and the other uses fear. And you know what? He was right. But he didn’t stop there. He went on to tell his students ways to HELP their insecurities, by imagining themselves in the future. He asked, “What kind of person do you want to be? Do you want to be strong in what you stand for? Do you want to be respected by others?” He told them all that everyone could start becoming a HERO, right there that day, by turning their anger and their fears into actively HELPING not only others, but by HELPING their own future selves! Once again, Mr. Morrow was right! And beginning that day, a lot of students at 3rd Street Elementary School started to become HEROES instead.
– Jim Lord