Recently, heroic behavior was on full display in a Florida school bus. An un-named sixteen-year-old man and two of his friends acted as heroes. They displayed great courage and acted bravely in the face of danger. They displayed distinguished and noble qualities. They are true heroes.
This sixteen-year-old man risked his own life to save another kid and a whole bus load of innocent kids. The hero was unarmed when he inserted himself into a life and death situation. The perpetrator had a loaded handgun pointed to the head of another kid on the school bus. He had been arguing with another teen and was now threatening to kill him and he had the means to do it. Our hero tackled the suspect and disarmed him. His quick thinking and action was both brave and honorable. No shots were fired. No one died and the bad kid with the loaded gun got arrested. Awesome right? Well no.
Did our wonderful public school system have a pep rally and honor our hero? Did they put up a picture of him in the hallways with the word Hero under it? No, they immediately suspended him for being involved in an incident involving a gun. Yeah, you read that right. Here it is in plain English – A teen got on the school bus with a loaded handgun, pointed it at the head of another teen and threatened to kill him. Then said hero tackles and disarms the teen with the gun, thus saving everyone’s life. The kid with the gun is arrested and then the hero kid is immediately suspended from school for being involved.
What kind of mixed message are we sending? I mean, if the hero would have been wearing red and blue spandex he would have made twenty-million at the box office rather than get kicked out of school! This kid should be honored, given a medal for bravery or something. We don’t see this in every teen out there. This was noble behavior, but instead we punish it.
I will oppose this story with another story. An adult in my hometown last week chose not to be a hero. A man and woman were having a fight in a parking lot. He was choking the woman. It was a gun free zone by the way. An innocent bystander came to the woman’s aid only to have the perpetrator pull a gun. Then the bystander put his hands up and said you win and walked off. Good luck lady, you’re on your own.
That would be known as less than heroic behavior. Behavior not noble and not distinguished, but probably what is more normal for our current state of affairs.
What this teen did is abnormal. Abnormal in a great way. How can a school administration be so stupid as to punish this kid? How about connect him up with a Marine Recruiter or something. How about tell him all the great things he could experience and learn by building upon his naturally, God-given, heroic qualities! Don’t kick him out of school for saving everyone’s life. Are you kidding me? How about firing the superintendent or principal or whoever enforced this ignorant action. Would they rather our hero sat quietly in his seat as a fellow student’s brains got splattered all over the yellow paint? Well would they?
Common sense has left our nation. I don’t know what else to say, I just shake my head at this stuff. I sincerely hope someone who knows this hero, takes an interest in his life and tells him thanks. Maybe a parent of a kid on the bus or a teacher or the bus driver could do it? Someone, anyone, please, I beg you? Go to our hero and say something like this.
Don’t worry about this crazy school suspension. You’re a hero man; you saved my son’s or daughter’s life. You didn’t have to do it, but you did. People I know and love are alive today because of what you did. I’m proud of you for who you are. That school is wrong. You are a hero and you always will be. No school or government can take that away from you, it’s who you are. Don’t ever forget it.
Then put your arm around that kid and take him out to his favorite place to eat or whatever he wants to do. Honor that young hero. Moments like that don’t come around all that often in life. He met the challenge. He rose to the occasion. It should be heralded as a pivotal moment in his life for good, not punished.
The spirit of a hero that is in that un-named young man is still alive in America. It’s just being persecuted, belittled and run underground, but it’s still here. Being a hero isn’t what it used to be, but then again most real heroes don’t need any accolades. However, it would be nice to not be punished for heroic behavior. God bless this young man. He is a real hero.
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