When I was at school we looked up to others and thought “I want to be like
them, they are my heroes”. Those heroes were famous sports personalities,
pop stars, media personalities, artists ……. the list goes on. Then as we
matured into adulthood we found our famous heroes were not as pure of
character that the media’s exaggerated stories lead us to believe.
Progressing through life our concept of a hero, changes, persuading us to look
at others we have met and the influence they made on our journey in life.
Inevitably minds return to our schooldays and thoughts of our past teachers
cross the mind and suddenly they no longer appear so horrid at all (I hope).
You don’t need GCSE’s to be a Hero
Horror of Horrors a teacher telling me that I do not need any GCSE’s? Sadly,
many of our youngsters struggle with the academic life of schooling and even
more regrettably today’s educational system is based more on examination
results than honesty.
To be a Hero you need Honesty
Can a teacher be a hero? yes of course they can, they are not famous don’t hit
the news headlines, but they have to lead by example as do many other
virtuous folk in society. It does not matter who or what you become in future
years you can become a hero to someone provided you have amongst other
qualities a streak of honesty.
Who was my Hero?
Like many youngsters I went through my school life wanting to be one of many
famous footballers and cricketers only to discover as I matured that the real
heroes of my life were around me. They were there to help when needed and
one who stood out amongst many others was my scout master known to all as
“Skip”. He had no academic qualifications but was a war hero who happily
carried out his daily work as an Electricity Meter Reader. Mr John Lebeter
went out of his way to voluntary help hundreds of youngsters who passed
through his Scout Group. His honesty and enthusiasm shone like a beacon to
all those around him.
Today’s Heroes
There are thousands of volunteers around the country helping make life for
others easier and more enjoyable. They are here living amongst us, and will all
admit that they themselves have flaws and are far from perfect, but they carry
out their duties with pure honest intentions.
My message to all youngsters is to stride on in life and become a Honest
Hero.
John Harris