Don't confuse the glitter of stardom with real heroism How did you answer the questions For example, Americans remember BEFORE REAOING at left? What do your answers say the bravery of the police officers and about your definitions of a hero? firefighters of 9/ U. " We are moved OUR ARTICLE, TAKE Kiki Weingarten sees a disturbing by that kind of basic sacrifice," Flora THIS BRIEF OOIZ. trend in today's society. "Nowadays, explains. U.S. troops also make such celebrities have become a form of hero," a sacrifice every day in Iraq. Those roiiowing.whomdo Weingarten tells JS. She is an educa- people are heroes, even though we you admire most? tional consultant who works with fami- may not know their names. ® 50 Cent lies in New York City. Often, she adds, ©Bill Gates we mistake mere fame for heroism. Makingthe World Better © Martin Luther King Jr. Carlin Flora, an editor at Psychology Last month, a New York City man ©Oprah Winfrey J Today, says we identify with celebri- made headlines when he jumped onto (§) your mother or father ties because "we see their faces over subway tracks to save a stranger from and over" in the media. "Our brains an oncoming train. Suddenly, everyone What makes a person are tricked into thinking we know was calling Wesley Autrey "Super- most admirable? these people," Flora tells JS. Many man." "I didn't think I did anything (A) achieving great weaTt stars, including Paris Hilton and Nicole heroic," Autrey told one reporter. "1 and fame Richie, are just "famous for being just saw someone who needed help." ©beingthebestat famous." Not all heroes risk their lives. Ryan something We need real heroes, says Flora. In Hreljac (HURL-jak) was just a first- © good deeds finding our role models, she advises, grade kid in the Canadian province of © noble sacrifice we should measure the value of what Ontario when he read that millions of a person contributes to the world. people in Africa had no clean water to 10 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / FEBRUARY 12, 200? ir ro right: A New York City fighter pauses during rescue efforts on 9/11; Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie in a publicity photo for The Simple Life 2, Oprah Winfrey "-d a student at the Leadership ademy for Girls, which Winfrey unded in South Africa; Ryan Hreljac with a tJgandan child at a well Ryan helped dig in Africa. RITY? drink. He started an organization to ber—41 percent—chose their parents. unique perspective on "just getting- help them. Now 15, Ryan has raised Jean Rhodes, a professor of psychol- through." Her parents survived Nazi more than $1.5 million to dig more ogy at the University of Massachusetts concentration camps during World than 230 wells in 11 countries. in Boston, says that this is a wise choice. War II (1939-1945). Although power- The smallest acts can make a differ- "Although we often think of heroes as less as children, they persevered. ence, Ryan tells JS. "You can change somehow larger than life, a hero can be "We're all born in different circum- (he world," he says. "It's like throwing someone in your everyday life," Rhodes stances," Weingarten says. "OK, so I'm a rock into a pond. You create a ripple tells JS. "Such heroes are all around you. not starving in India. But my circum- when you do a good deed. And before They are not in magazines or on televi- stances can feel very difficult to me. you know it, there are waves ail over, sion. They are in your school, coaching The question is, 'Whal am I doing? Am and the whole world is a better place." your team, leading youth groups. They I achieving what I should be?" A hero may do good deeds, but does are in your own family." "Being a kid is hard," Weingarten he or she have to be perfect? No, says Flora makes the same point. We adds. "1 think if you can find out who Detroit newspaper columnist Betty admire Oprah Winfrey because she you are, and be true to yourself. lo me Deramus. "A hero is simply someone came from humble beginnings, has that is heroic." who rises ahove his own human weak- accomplished so much, and has been —Bryan Browr) nesses, for an hour, a day, a year, to do so generous. But, perhaps, so has your something stirring," she wrote. grandmother. "She can be as much of Think About It a role mode! [as Oprah|, if not more," 1. What is the most heroic thing you Ordinary Heroes Flora says, "because you have direct have ever done? Did you think whom do kids admire most? The contact with her." about it first, or was It purely answer may be surprising. A 2004 Weingarten goes further. She thinks instinctive? Explain. poll conducted by Junior Achieve- that everyone has the potential to be 2. Would you rather be a hero or a ment and Harris Interactive asked a hero. "Sometimes, being a hero can celebrity when you grow up? Can a teens to name their most important just be getting through your ordinary person be both? Explain. role model. By far, the highest num- day," she says. Weingarten has a JUNIOR SCHOUSTIC / FEBRUARY 12, 200? 11 .