If any of you dear readers are fans of The West Wing, you'll recognize the post title. C.J. is asked to give a speech with that title at her high school reunion, and one of the running comments throughout the episode is "What the @%#& does that even mean?"
As a YA writer, I spend a lot of time reading about teenagers, talking with them, paying attention to the way they interact with the world. These are the people who will be in charge of the world just a few short years from now. It's strange for me to talk about the next generation--I'm still in my twenties, barely out of that "next generation" range myself. But it's easy to think of "kids these days" as somehow failing to live up to their potential. Politically apathetic, materialistic, trendy, spoiled... I've heard adults use these words and others to describe modern teenagers.
A study a few years ago showed that when asked what adults think of them, a staggeringly high percentage of teenagers responded with negative character traits. On that list of adjectives, "kind" was certainly nowhere in sight.
And yet despite news coverage of school shootings, bullying, and peer pressure, some of the purest, most selfless kindness and compassion I've ever seen comes from teenagers--people who are changing from appropriately self-centered children to brand new adults, choosing how they want to live their lives.
So today I wanted to post a video that was sent to me by my awesome friend and co-author, Amie Kaufman. She warned me it would make me cry, but I was in such a bad mood when she sent it that I scoffed--let me just tell you: this will make you cry. No matter way. (But don't worry. It's the good kind of crying.)
We talk here about "Kindness Ambassadors," and how to share kindness with others and spread it in the world. To me, whenever I see kids and teenagers displaying this kind of extraordinary kindness and compassion, it makes me think of that. These are our Kindness Ambassadors to future generations.
As a YA writer, I spend a lot of time reading about teenagers, talking with them, paying attention to the way they interact with the world. These are the people who will be in charge of the world just a few short years from now. It's strange for me to talk about the next generation--I'm still in my twenties, barely out of that "next generation" range myself. But it's easy to think of "kids these days" as somehow failing to live up to their potential. Politically apathetic, materialistic, trendy, spoiled... I've heard adults use these words and others to describe modern teenagers.
A study a few years ago showed that when asked what adults think of them, a staggeringly high percentage of teenagers responded with negative character traits. On that list of adjectives, "kind" was certainly nowhere in sight.
And yet despite news coverage of school shootings, bullying, and peer pressure, some of the purest, most selfless kindness and compassion I've ever seen comes from teenagers--people who are changing from appropriately self-centered children to brand new adults, choosing how they want to live their lives.
So today I wanted to post a video that was sent to me by my awesome friend and co-author, Amie Kaufman. She warned me it would make me cry, but I was in such a bad mood when she sent it that I scoffed--let me just tell you: this will make you cry. No matter way. (But don't worry. It's the good kind of crying.)
We talk here about "Kindness Ambassadors," and how to share kindness with others and spread it in the world. To me, whenever I see kids and teenagers displaying this kind of extraordinary kindness and compassion, it makes me think of that. These are our Kindness Ambassadors to future generations.
Love love love. <3 *wipes tears* As they say, win or lose...it's HOW you play the game.
ReplyDeleteI love that kid on the opposite team who threw him the ball.
Thanks for sharing. <3
Incredible. Just incredible. I hardly know what to say. What a miracle of a human being. What an inspiration to us. The coach's intentions which gave his team encouragement and "permission" to lose if need be, the team's willing participation, and the boy's action at the end--it speaks volumes about who we are capable of being. It's just so hopeful, so much humanity in that sequence of actions. I love this and can't wait to show it to my children when they get home.
ReplyDeleteEarlier today this video made it to my news feed on Facebook. Needless to say, I shared it. If only these were the things that made it to headline news every day. They are out there. They do happen. They just don't make headlines often enough.
ReplyDeleteI love it when truly remarkable acts of kindness like this make the news--and then go viral. The coach, the players, and the player from the other team are all amazing examples to us all. And a reminder that it's never about winning, really. In basketball or life. Thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteKindness above winning. It was that simple. Why do we insist on complicating things?
ReplyDeleteAWESOME!! Thanks for sharing:-) As a youth group leader, I can testify that teenagers are way cooler than adults give them credit for!
ReplyDelete